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WASHINGTON — President Trump said he dined Thursday night with comedian Bill Maher, musician Kid Rock and sports commentator Stephen A. Smith.
“I think they had a good time. We talked about everything, it lasted a long time,” Trump told reporters Friday as he left the White House for a campaign trip to Georgia.
“Even though they have to sort of put on a certain little facade for their people, they like Trump, and I actually like them. We had a great time.”
“We even took a little tour of the ballroom. We went inside the ballroom with beams that are being put up over our heads,” the president added.
“But it was a great dinner, it was a very informative dinner. Smart people. Stephen A. is great. Bill Maher, I tell you what, he likes me a lot more than people understand, and I actually like him.”
News of the dinner was first reported on social media by the DC bar Madams Organ, which posted photos of Maher and Smith enjoying a live music performance.
“Where did Bill Maher and Stephen A Smith go to celebrate Smith’s Birthday before their dinner date at the White House w His Orangeness? of course they came to enjoy a couple sets from KingPin Blues,” the bar wrote.
Trump called Smith, who has toyed with running for president, a “low IQ individual,” an “arrogant fool” and “dumb as a rock” in June 2026 after the longtime sports commentator criticized Trump’s decision to attend a New York Knicks game.
“You need a certain aptitude to run for president. You need a high IQ. I’m not sure that Stephen has that. I don’t think he does, actually,” the president said at the time.
Maher previously dined with Trump at the White House last year, saying afterward on his HBO show: “A crazy person does not live in the White House. A person who plays a crazy person on TV a lot lives there. Which I know is f–ed up, it’s just not as f–ed up as I thought it was.”