Agitating for attention, Trump and Bill Maher get into it, again
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Soaring gas prices and a war with Iran.
asserted
Trump → agitate → Iran
President Trump has a lot on his plate, and so too does the nation.
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nation → have → plate
Sunday, he took to Truth Social to address the people.
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he → take → people
“Let’s talk about this COMPLETE AND TOTAL LOSER, Bill Maher,” the president wrote at the top of his longest post ever.
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president → talk → post
The 1,300-word-plus screed was triggered by Friday’s episode of “Real Time With Bill Maher,” a mainstay on HBO since 2003.
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screed → trigger → 2003
The comedian referred to Trump as a “lame duck” president with low approval ratings during a segment with his guest, former White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
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comedian → refer → guest
Trump, 80, likely expected praise from his fellow curmudgeon Maher, 70, since the men had recently dined together at the White House.
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men → expect → House
It was their second such date following a controversial get-together in March 2025, which Maher juiced for all it was worth in an effort to stand out from his fellow late-night hosts.
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it → follow → hosts
When Colbert was named the new host of ‘The Late Show’ in 2015, he was considered an unusual choice, but he turned out to be the right fit for these times.
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he → name → times
Maher’s chummy relationship with Trump has made him an outlier among his peers, many of whom have been in the president’s crosshairs.
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many → make → crosshairs
CBS canceled Stephen Colbert’s show after decades on the air following pressure from Trump’s Federal Communications Commission chair.
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CBS → cancel → chair
Trump has bitterly complained about being treated unfairly by Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers.
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Trump → complain → Kimmel
They, too, now have targets on their backs.
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They → have → backs
Maher has avoided the same fate by railing on Trump only half as much as his late-night peers, leaning into various MAGA grievances about the “woke” left and forging a fair-weather friendship with the second-term president.
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Maher → avoid → president
If the Maher of 2003 could see himself now, he’d likely dedicate a searing monologue to the hypocrisy.
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he → see → hypocrisy
The host was once positioned as an irreverent comedian whose political satire was guided by his no-BS take on Capitol Hill and American culture.
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satire → position → Hill
Political correctness be damned.
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correctness → damn → ?
But as the political landscape has shifted, so too has Maher’s approach.
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approach → shift → ?
Now he plays the role of a staunchly nonpartisan crank on TV while dining with the president in person.
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he → play → person
“Yeah, I did it again, b—!” Maher said to his audience Friday.
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Maher → do → audience
“I know.
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I → know → ?
I’m the bad guy because I go and say face-to-face to the man the things you write in articles that he’ll never read, but OK.
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he → ’m → that
You know what?
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You → know → what
I like these dinners.”
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I → like → dinners
Maher was dipping back into the attention he received in 2025, when he first dined with Trump and described the president as “gracious and measured.”
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he → dip → president
Their rendezvous was just the sort of thing the comedian would have mercilessly lampooned if he wasn’t in fact part of the joke.
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he → lampoon → joke
Fellow comedians such as Patton Oswalt have criticized the HBO host for placating Trump, while Larry David satirized Maher’s first date with the president in a New York Times essay titled “My Dinner With Adolf.”
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David → criticize → Adolf
The controversy was a boon for “Real Time,” boosting its waning relevance by putting Maher back in the news and reinforcing the tired charade that his fearlessness knows no bounds.
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fearlessness → boost → bounds
This week’s public skirmish was a repeat performance, if not a somewhat pathetic display of both men’s need to agitate for attention.
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skirmish → agitate → attention
Maher told his audience on Friday’s episode that he spoke with the president about deadly ICE incidents, Ukraine and how Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was “dragging” Trump down.
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Hegseth → tell → Trump
In closing, he assured the audience he was no pushover by poking at the president’s recent favorable dealings with Russia (a diesel deal, lifting sanctions), then saying, “I could not have been treated better if I was Russian.”
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I → assure → sanctions
Given the president’s delicate psyche, Maher knew anything short of absolute praise would be perceived as an insult.
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anything → give → insult
In Sunday’s Truth Social manifesto, Trump referred to Maher as a “biased, dumb SLEAZEBAG” whose program is plagued by low ratings.
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program → refer → ratings
The president also alleged that the comedian was drunk and had a drink in hand as he toured the White House on Oct. 15, and that Maher is a “major POTHEAD” who “looked like hell this time.”
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who → allege → hell
He had told reporters that it was “a great dinner.”
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it → tell → reporters
“Bill Maher, I tell you what, he likes me a lot more than people understand,” Trump said.
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Trump → tell → me
“And I actually like him.”
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I → like → him
Not unlike Trump, Maher also enjoys praise, and blames the “woke left” when he doesn’t get it.
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he → enjoy → it
The typically smug host appeared upset earlier this year at the Golden Globes when presenter Wanda Sykes roasted him and another nominee up for best performance in stand-up comedy on television, Ricky Gervais.
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Sykes → appear → television
“There’s some people pissed off that a queer Black woman is up here doing the job of two mediocre white guys,” Sykes said.
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Sykes → ’ → guys
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
