Though the March 31 meeting went well, Maher — who had derided the president's tariff flip-flopping earlier in the monologue — maintained he will continue to hold the Trump administration to account. "I don’t have a good feeling and will be critical about a lot of what he's doing: the trade war and disappearing people, ruling by decree, threatening judges, gutting the government with glee," Maher said. He ended his report by saying, "Trump was gracious and measured, and why he isn't that in other settings, I don't know. And I can't answer, and it's not my place to answer. I'm just telling you what I saw, and I wasn't high."
The host also shared that he remained “not MAGA” and that the conversation covered his own criticisms of the Trump admin, including its collapse of President Obama’s 2015 deal with Iran to limit the country’s nuclear program. He also said that he praised Trump for signaling for DEI having “gone too far,” legislation against trans athletes and ongoing support for Israel military action in Gaza. Maher noted that his takeaway from the President’s private candor with him was “emblematic of why the Democrats are so unpopular these days.” “Look, I get it. It doesn’t matter who he is at a private dinner with a comedian. It matters who he is on the world stage. I’m just taking it as a positive that this person exists. Because everything I’ve ever not liked about him was — I swear to God — absent, at least on this night with this guy,” Maher said, later describing the president as “gracious.”
At the outset of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” on Friday, the eponymous host delivered a lengthy monologue about his meeting with the commander in chief that left him unexpectedly charmed. “Everything I’ve not liked about him was, I swear to God, absent. At least on this night, with this guy,” Maher, 69, said, appearing somewhat shocked by his own conclusions. “I never felt I had to walk on eggshells around him. And honestly, I voted for Clinton and Obama, but I would never feel comfortable talking to them the way I was able to talk with Donald Trump,” the talk show host said, adding, “Make of it what you will.”
