Rather than gloat after the results of the midterm elections on Nov. 3, Bill Maher is actually giving President Donald Trump his flowers for how he's responded to the historic blue wave.
On the Friday, Nov. 6, episode of "Real Time with Bill Maher," the Emmy-winning comedian, 70, acknowledged the Democrats' triumphant victory, which secured control of Congress for the remainder of Trump's second term, saying the president has been "amazingly humble."
Maher also joked that he "might get to" have dinner at the White House again.
After Trump slammed the comedian in a more than 1,300-word post on Truth Social on Oct. 25 over a dinner they had together, Maher joked, "Wow, I might get to go again. Look at that."
"It’s interesting that it’s only three
days after, and we’re hardly talking about Trump, already," Maher said. "I mean, it’s a little weird that he’s still there. He just had this giant rebuke; now he’s literally a lame duck."
The "Club Random" podcast host compared Trump's presence in the White House to "trying to cancel your subscription, but you’re still on the plan for another year."
"But he’s been amazingly humble. I thought by this time, he'd be suing the voters by name, individually, and arresting the poll workers. Instead, even he was like, 'You know, even I’m sick of me a little bit,'" he quipped.
USA TODAY has reached out to the White House for comment.
What happened at Bill Maher's last dinner with Trump?
On the Oct. 30 episode of the HBO talk show, Maher shared his account of his recent dinner with Trump, where he joked, "I tell you, dining at the White House is the opposite of the Cheesecake Factory: After you leave, they review you. He went off on me like Kelly Clarkson in a toy store."
He also touted that the president wrote more than 1,300 words bashing Maher on Truth Social, quipping in his opening monologue: "Longest ever! Kind of a flex."
Holding a copy of the post printed on multiple pieces of paper, he said that the "whole point" of their dinner was to prove that they can talk and disagree without hating each other. "And then, I go back to my job here, and then, the heartaches begin," he said.
He also corrected Trump, saying that the president told Maher not to call him anymore: "I've never called you. You call me! I'd be afraid to call you; you're the president. I think you're too busy. Well, plainly not."
In response to Trump saying that Maher "invited himself to the White House," the comedian hit back, "As if you could do that!" Maher also denied that he "had a seriously bruised eye and nose area," as Trump claimed.
"There are pictures of it – that you gave me!" Maher pointed out. "I don't have it. It's in the pictures!"
What did Trump say about Bill Maher?
In his rant posted on Oct. 25, Trump blasted Maher as a "COMPLETE AND TOTAL LOSER." The diatribe came after Trump and Maher had dinner together at the White House with Stephen A. Smith and Kid Rock on Oct. 15.
At first, the president described the dinner as "great," but Maher's first show after their meeting appeared to set him off: Maher opened his Oct. 23 monologue by remarking that Trump "has the lowest approval rating of any midterm candidate ever" and saying that Republicans are distancing themselves from him going into the midterm elections.
"After the second dinner, Bill's 'show' was far worse than the first," Trump wrote in his post. "He went crazy! He's gutless, because he enjoyed every minute."
Trump ended the post by seeming to shut the door on a third dinner: "Bill: Don't call anymore."
Bill Maher and Donald Trump's complicated history
Trump and Maher previously had dinner at the White House in 2025. At the time, some of Maher's liberal viewers criticized him for the choice, but he defended it. He did so again on his Oct. 23 show.
"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," he said. "But OK. You know what? [Screw] you. I like these dinners."
Maher said the dinner "went on for four hours," though Trump denied it, maintaining it lasted only two and that "we have the timestamps" to prove it. Though Maher said he criticized Trump on a number of things at the dinner, he gave the president credit for treating him well.
"Trump never lost his temper. He never yelled. He never interrupted," Maher said. He joked he "could not have been treated better if I was Russian" and later said, "I'm an optimist. I prefer to think of the president as half sane."
On his Oct. 23 show, Maher also sat down with former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. As they began the interview, she relayed a message from Trump. "The president sends his regards," Leavitt said. "I told him I was coming on the show, and he said, 'Tell him he loved that dinner, and he knows it.'"
Prior to the most recent dust-up, Trump slammed Maher in a 500-word Truth Social post in February. In reference to their original 2025 dinner, Trump said it was a "total waste of time for me to have this jerk at the White House."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bill Maher says Trump is 'literally a lame duck' after midterm blue wave
