US President Donald Trump has lashed out at comedian Bill Maher in a lengthy Truth Social post exceeding 1,300 words, branding him a "COMPLETE AND TOTAL LOSER" and criticising his show. The attack came weeks after Mr Maher visited the White House and days after his programme featured former Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Background of a Rocky Relationship
Mr Trump and Mr Maher have a history of conflict. The US leader once sued Mr Maher for joking that his father was an orangutan. The pair have attempted to reconcile, including two sit-down dinners at the White House, but Mr Trump still attacked Mr Maher's show.
In his post, Mr Trump called the programme a "Low Rated Show" and compared it to his own "Top Hit Show" The Apprentice. He also claimed the comedian begged him to appear on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher.
Trump's Claims and Criticism
"When I became President, I agreed to meet, after the first one, and the last one, but never agreed to do his show, which he wants me to do, DESPERATELY — It won't happen!" Mr Trump wrote. He added: "When I have watched the show, which isn't often, it always ends with dishonesty, about me at least, but, who cares?"
Mr Trump continued: "Using Fake Polls, he also said I had my Lowest Ratings so far, and even the Republican Party doesn't like him, but that's not true. I have High Ratings and, more importantly, he said that I'm losing the support and approval of the Republican Party when, in fact, CNN just came out with a Poll showing that I'm at 98 and 99% support within the Republican Party, an All Time Record High."
"Bill Maher lied, but he lies about everything," Mr Trump said. He claimed Mr Maher invited himself to the White House for their first dinner in March 2025 and begged to be invited back, returning for dinner on October 15. Mr Trump said he thought the dinner went well and suggested Mr Maher does not believe what he says on his programme, instead catering to his base.
Maher's Comments and Leavitt's Appearance
The remarks followed Mr Maher clapping back at critics of the dinner, revealing he enjoyed it. In his opening monologue, Mr Maher claimed: "Trump has the lowest approval rating of any midterm candidate ever. Only 1 percent of the Republicans are mentioning him in their ads. It's gotten really bad."
Mr Maher spoke with Ms Leavitt later in the episode. She joked that her successor Katie Zacharia, who was fired just five days into the job, suffered the same fate as contestants on The Apprentice. Mr Maher replied by joking that he hopes "I'm not next" after his second visit to the White House.
Ms Leavitt empathised with Ms Zacharia, saying: "It's a tough job, it's a very tough job, people say it's one of the hardest jobs in Washington. I give anyone who steps up to that podium credit because only 37 people in history have been the White House Press Secretary." She agreed with Mr Trump's decision to ease Ms Zacharia out of the job within a week.
Asked how the president would react to Republicans losing in the midterm elections, Ms Leavitt said: "The president does have a way of defying history. He was in the Oval Office not once, but twice and every poll said he would not make it there. So I think he's working really hard to turn Republicans out to vote, so let's wait and see before jumping to conclusions."
Following her feature on the show, Mr Trump praised Ms Leavitt in his post as being "great" while branding Maher a "dumb sleazebag". He wrote: "There were so many other falsehoods Bill spewed, but I won't waste time in FACT CHECKING him. He isn't worth it."
