President Donald Trump has agreed to meet with longtime critic and comedian Bill Maher at the White House, but he’s making it clear the meeting is happening for one reason only – as a favor to their mutual friend, Kid Rock.
“I got a call from a very good guy, and friend of mine, Kid Rock, asking me whether or not it would be possible for me to meet, in the White House, with Bill Maher, a man who has been unjustifiably critical of anything, or anyone, TRUMP,” Trump wrote in a lengthy Truth Social post Sunday night, March 30.
The president made no effort to hide his reluctance about the upcoming meeting, which will reportedly include UFC president Dana White alongside the unlikely trio of Trump, Maher, and Kid Rock.
Trump acknowledged having significant reservations about sitting down with one of his most vocal critics in the entertainment world.
The president expressed concern that regardless of how the private meeting goes, Maher would continue criticizing him publicly afterward. Trump compared this potential scenario to how Democrats reacted during his recent address to Congress, where he felt they refused to stand, applaud, or show any positivity toward his remarks.
Kid Rock, whose real name is Robert Ritchie, has been orchestrating this unusual meeting for weeks. The musician, a vocal Trump supporter who attended the president’s inauguration earlier this year, first mentioned his plans during an appearance on Glenn Beck’s podcast.
Kid Rock stated that he intends to make an effort to unite the country, revealing that, starting at the end of the month, he plans to take Bill Maher to the White House for dinner. He described the gesture as an attempt to help bridge America’s political divide.
Maher, who hosts HBO’s “Real Time,” confirmed the upcoming meeting during a preview of his “Club Random” podcast. The liberal comedian has been one of Trump’s harshest critics over the years but said he was willing to accept the invitation despite knowing it would anger many of his politically aligned fans.
“There will be lots of people on the left who will be like, ‘How dare you talk to this man,'” Maher said on his podcast. He dismissed these critics with characteristic bluntness, saying he refuses to play what he called the “mean girls” game of not speaking to political opponents.
The meeting represents an unexpected twist in the contentious relationship between the president and the comedian. Trump and Maher have exchanged harsh words for years, with Maher frequently criticizing Trump’s policies and behavior on his HBO show. Their antagonism goes back more than a decade – Trump once filed a $5 million lawsuit against Maher after the comedian joked that Trump was the son of an orangutan.
Despite these deep-seated tensions, Trump concluded his post with a hint of openness: “Who knows, though, maybe I’ll be proven wrong? In any event, I’m doing a favor for a friend. I look forward to meeting with Bill Maher, Kid Rock and, I believe, even the legendary Dana White will be present. It might be fun or, it might not, but you will be the first to know!”
The planned get-together positions Maher as the latest prominent Trump critic to meet with the president since his re-election, following Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, who have both recently visited the White House.
The White House has not yet announced an official date for the meeting, though Kid Rock had previously indicated it would take place “at the end of the month.”
Online reactions to the news have been predictably mixed. Some Trump allies, including Roger Stone, have criticized the decision to meet with Maher, while others have expressed enthusiasm about the unusual summit, with one social media user describing the upcoming meeting as “class A entertainment.”
For his part, Maher has said he plans to dress formally for the occasion as a “sign of respect” to the presidency, specifically mentioning he would not dress casually like Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky did during a recent White House visit that ended in controversy.
This unexpected meeting comes at a time when political divisions in America remain stark, with Kid Rock positioning the dinner as a symbolic gesture that might encourage dialogue across the partisan divide. Whether this unusual gathering will have any impact on the relationship between two of America’s most outspoken public figures remains to be seen.
