
Donald Trump confirms he's meeting Bill Maher as a favor to a friend
President Donald Trump says he is meeting with comedian and frequent critic Bill Maher as a favor to his pal, Kid Rock.
Kid Rock announced last week that he organized a meet-up between Trump and Maher to'break bread' and to try to 'unite the country.' Now, the president confirmed he will see his on-screen critic face-to-face after being contacted by the musician.
'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,' the president wrote on Truth Social on Sunday evening. 'I really didn't like the idea much, and don't like it much now, but thought it would be interesting.'
'The problem is, no matter how much he likes your Favorite President, ME, he will publicly proclaim what a terrible guy I am, etc.,' Trump continued. 'Who knows, though, maybe I'll be proven wrong? In any event, I'm doing a favor for a friend.'
Trump added: '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!'
Maher previously explained how the meeting came to be on his podcast Club Random.
'Kid Rock was here a couple of weeks ago, and he said, 'I want you to meet Trump,'' he noted. 'He said, 'I'm gonna take you to the White House.' So now we're gonna do that.'
The meeting comes more than a decade after Trump filed a $5 million lawsuit against Maher after he joked that Trump was the son of an orangutan, referring to his hair color.
The Real Time host also recently compared his dinner with the president to Richard Nixon's historic visit to China in 1972, but admitted his visit wouldn't be able to 'heal' the country.
'I'm doing it because first of all, it was presented as… maybe this is a beginning to heal America. Now, I don't have some sort of complex where I think I can heal America, I can't. Let's get that clear. I'm not going to be healing America,' Maher said on The Chris Cuomo Project podcast last week.
'But if two guys who've been at each other for so long — I mean, it's kind of a Nixon-to-China thing. I have the credentials,' the comedian continued.
Maher, a self-described 'old school liberal', then referred to his criticism of both Trump and the Democrats.
'Nobody who was harder on Trump or more prescient about the fact that he wasn't going to leave office voluntarily than I was,' Maher said, adding that the public respects him 'because I'm honest about the woke train to crazy town.'
'It's an honor to be invited to the White House,' the comedian told Cuomo.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

South Wales Argus
35 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
US and Europe trade negotiators discuss tariffs in Paris
The European Union's top trade negotiator, Maros Sefcovic, met on Wednesday with his American counterpart, US trade representative Jamieson Greer, on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 'We're advancing in the right direction at pace,' Mr Sefcovic said at a news conference. He said ongoing technical meetings between EU and US negotiators in Washington would be soon followed by a video conference between himself and Mr Greer to then 'assess the progress and charter the way forward'. Brussels and Washington are unlikely to reach a substantive trade agreement in Paris. The issues dividing them are too difficult to resolve quickly. US President Donald Trump regularly criticises America's persistent trade deficit with the European Union, which was a record 161 billion dollars (£119 billion)last year, according to the US Commerce Department. Mr Trump blames the gap between what the US sells and what it buys from Europe on unfair trade practices and often singles out for criticism the EU's 10% tax on imported cars. America's was 2.5% until Mr Trump raised it to 25% in April. The EU has argued its purchases of US services, especially in the technology sector, all but overcome the deficit. After the Trump administration's surprise tariffs last week on steel rattled global markets and complicated the ongoing, wider tariff negotiations between Brussels and Washington, the EU on Monday said it is preparing 'countermeasures' against the US. The EU has offered the US a 'zero for zero' deal in which both sides end tariffs on industrial goods, including cars. Mr Trump has rejected that idea, but EU officials say it is still on the table. US trade representative Jamieson Greer (Mark Schiefelbein/AP) The EU could buy more liquefied natural gas and defence items from the US, and lower duties on cars, but it is not likely to budge on calls to scrap the value added tax, which is akin to a sales tax, or open up the EU to American beef. 'We still have a few weeks to have this discussion and negotiation,' French trade minister Laurent Saint-Martin said in Paris on Wednesday ahead of the OECD meeting. 'If the discussion and negotiation do not succeed, Europe is capable of having countermeasures on American products and services as well.' Greta Peisch, who was general counsel for the US trade representative in the Biden administration, said the zero-for-zero proposal could provide a way to make progress if the Trump administration 'is looking for a reason not to impose tariffs on the EU'. But Ms Peisch, now a partner at the Wiley Rein law firm, added: 'How motivated is the US to come to a deal with the EU?' Mr Trump, after all, has longstanding grievances and complaints about EU trade practices. One target of his ire is the value-added tax. Mr Trump and his advisers consider VATs unfair protectionism because they are levied on US products. But VATs are set at a national level, not by the EU, and apply to domestic and imported products alike, so they have not traditionally been considered a trade barrier. There is little chance governments will overhaul their tax systems to appease Mr Trump. Likewise, the Europeans are likely to balk at US demands to scrap food and safety regulations that Washington views as trade barriers. These include bans on hormone-raised beef, chlorinated chicken and genetically modified foods. 'When you start talking about chickens or GMOs or automobile safety standards, you're talking about the ways countries choose to regulate their economies,' Ms Peisch said. 'We think that's protectionist. They think it's keeping their citizens healthy … It's been a sore point for 60 years.'


Glasgow Times
36 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Deal on US steel tariffs to be in force ‘in a very short time', says PM
Sir Keir Starmer suggested to the House of Commons on Wednesday that the deal struck last month could come into effect 'in just a couple of weeks'. Once implemented, the agreement would effectively eliminate tariffs on British steel and aluminium exports to the US. Those tariffs currently stand at 25% after Mr Trump said he would 'provide different treatment' for the UK while he increased the levy to 50% for the rest of the world. But the situation could still change again in July, when the US is set to either increase the tariffs to 50% or introduce the quotas in the US-UK agreement, effectively eradicating the tax, depending on whether the deal is implemented. Challenged over the uncertainty during Prime Minister's Questions by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, Sir Keir said: 'We are the only country in the world that isn't paying the 50% tax on steel and that will be coming down. 'We are working on it to bring it down to zero, that is going to happen.' Responding to further questions from Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, Sir Keir told MPs: 'We have a deal and we are implementing it and within a very short time I am confident we will get those tariffs down in accordance with the deal.' Adding that he expected MPs would be 'very pleased at the outcome of that', he said: 'Let's come back in just a couple of weeks when we have implemented it.' After Prime Minister's Questions, Downing Street said Sir Keir's confidence in finalising the deal was due to 'constant dialogue' with the US. But the Prime Minister's official spokesman would not guarantee that the deal would be in place by the July 9 deadline set by Mr Trump, telling reporters: 'Obviously our aim is to implement this deal as quickly as possible and you have just heard from the PM in the House that we are hoping to provide an update on that in weeks.' Earlier on Wednesday, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told the BBC the Government would bring forward the legislation needed to implement the deal. Meanwhile, both the steel industry and trade unions have urged the Government to finalise the agreement with Washington. Gareth Stace, head of the industry body UK Steel, said Mr Trump's decision to keep tariffs on British steel at 25% was a 'welcome pause' but warned that continuing uncertainty was making US customers 'dubious over whether they should even risk making UK orders'. Alasdair McDiarmid, assistant general secretary of the Community union, also welcomed the 'reprieve' from the 50% rate, and added it was 'vital that the UK locks down the US trade deal to avoid punitive steel tariffs going forward.' But the Lib Dems urged Sir Keir to stand up to Mr Trump, saying the president had changed the terms of a deal he had already signed. Following Prime Minister's Questions, Sir Ed called on the Government to support his party's 'Buy British' campaign, saying: 'Donald Trump has taken our lunch money and is now coming back for more. 'Any deal he signs is already through the Oval Office shredder. 'It is time for the Government to admit that Trump's White House is not a reliable ally and get tough on ending this trade war by backing British businesses.' The Conservatives have said that Labour's 'botched negotiations have left businesses in limbo'. Shadow business and trade secretary Andrew Griffith said: 'Keir Starmer stood in front of the nation and insisted to the British public that his Labour Government had achieved a trade deal with the US – and now one month later our industries face a fresh tariffs blow. 'So once again it seems that Keir Starmer's promise was just like the rest: hollow and broken. Labour's botched negotiations have left businesses in limbo and this country simply cannot afford their continuing failure.'


Reuters
40 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trump defeats Democrats' lawsuit over election commission independence
June 4 (Reuters) - A Washington, D.C. judge has dismissed the Democratic Party's lawsuit accusing U.S. President Donald Trump of violating federal election law by trying to assert control over the independent Federal Election Commission. U.S. District Judge Amir Ali ruled on Tuesday night that three national Democratic committees lacked a "concrete and imminent injury" to justify suing now, because they did not show Trump would violate election law. The lawsuit filed on February 28 was the Democratic Party's first against Trump during the Republican's second White House term. Hundreds of lawsuits challenging the administration's actions have been filed. Neither the Democratic party nor its lawyers immediately responded to requests for comment on Wednesday. The White House did not immediately respond to a similar request. Democrats challenged Trump's February 18 executive order giving the White House more control over traditionally independent agencies including the election commission, National Labor Relations Board and Securities and Exchange Commission. They objected to language making Trump's and Attorney General Pam Bondi's views on questions of law "controlling" for federal employees performing their official duties, and bans executive branch employees from advancing contrary views. The plaintiffs included the Democratic National Committee, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. In a 14-page decision, Ali said White House lawyers assured that the administration would not invoke Trump's order to dictate election commission activity, and commissioners would not interpret the order as a command to vote a particular way. Ali, an appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden, also found no imminent injury based on Democrats' claim they were "chilled" from pursuing campaign strategies because a Trump-controlled election commission might reject them. "The court does not doubt that the committees would have cause for profound concern were the FEC's independence to be compromised," the judge wrote. But he said Supreme Court precedent required the committees to show that their relationship with the bipartisan commission has changed or will change. "They have not done so," he said. The election commission oversees elections and enforces campaign finance laws. Congress created it in 1974 in the wake of the Watergate scandal. The case is Democratic National Committee et al v Trump et al, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, No. 25-00587.