Bill Maher opted not to escalate his feud with Donald Trump’s on Friday night’s Real Time with Bill Maher, answering the president’s latest social media broadside with a single well-placed quip.
After Trump blasted Maher last weekend as a “weak and ineffective person” and a “MORON,” the Real Time host answered with just one joke during Friday’s closing “New Rules” commentary.
Trump’s latest attack was prompted by Maher’s interview with California Gov. Gavin Newsom on last week’s Real Time. Along with criticizing Maher’s handling of the segment, Trump revisited their April 2025 White House dinner.
According to Trump, Maher was “nervous as hell” during the visit and at one point told him, “Sir, I need a drink.”
Maher turned that claim into a punchline.
“Donald Trump is infuriating—I know this personally—that’s why whenever I’m around him, I’m so nervous I need a drink right away!” he said, drawing a big laugh from the studio audience.
Maher made no further mention of Trump’s latest attack during the broadcast, folding the line into a broader “New Rules” editorial about the rise in politically motivated violence.
The muted rejoinder marked a notably lighter touch than Maher has taken in the past. In March, the Real Time host devoted nearly ten minutes to rebutting another of Trump’s Truth Social tirades point by point, correcting the president’s account of their White House dinner and accusing Trump of suffering from “Bill Maher Derangement Syndrome.”
Maher is set to receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor next month at the Trump-controlled Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
