Bill Maher, who has long been a critic of President Donald Trump, has changed his tune, and is touting the second-term Republican as “one of the most effective politicians.”
Speaking on the Sunday episode of his Club Random podcast — recorded before his private White House dinner early last week with the president, courtesy of country singer Kid Rock — the 69-year-old TV host and political commentator lauded Trump for his political capabilities.
“I mean Trump is one of the most effective politicians, whatever you think of the policy and him as a person,” Maher said. ”Just him as a politician, just understanding that [you should] always lean into being more who you are.”
The “people are not savvy about issues, but they smell a phony a mile away and that kind of s***, nobody else does it,” he added.
The episode ran just days after Trump sent stock markets around the world tumbling after announcing his global tariffs.
Maher further sang Trump’s praises for claims that he once threatened Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar before former President Joe Biden withdrew U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2021. Trump previously told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that he “sent [Baradar] a picture of his house.”
“When he did that thing where the guy came in from the Taliban and he said, ‘This is an aerial picture of your house. If during our withdrawal one American is hurt, just know I know where you live,’” Maher recalled.
“I was like, ‘Oh, can we just play the music now? Because I don’t care it’s Donald Trump and he’s the worst person ever, blah, blah, blah — I f***ing love that!”
Last week, longtime foes Maher and Trump came together for a symbolic “breaking of the bread” as a way to “unite the country,” according to Kid Rock, who organized the dinner.
Though Maher has yet to speak out on the dinner — he has teased that all will be revealed on the April 11 episode of his Real Time talk show — Kid Rock hasn’t wasted any time in claiming that it “could not have been better.”
“Everyone was so surprised,” the “All Summer Long” singer said during an appearance on Fox & Friends.
“The president was so gracious. He took us up to the private residence and we saw the Gettysburg Address and the Lincoln bedroom, and I was like, ‘You’ve never been here, Bill?’” Kid Rock recalled.
“We talked about things we had in common. [Complaining about] wokeness, securing the border. The president was asking him what he thought about policy going on with Iran and Israel and things.”
