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Trump has ‘great dinner’ and tours White House ballroom with ‘smart people’ Bill Maher and Stephen A. Smith

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Nelson, S. (2026, October 16). Trump has ‘great dinner’ and tours White House ballroom with ‘smart people’ Bill Maher and Stephen A. Smith. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/16/us-news/trump-has-great-dinner-with-smart-people-bill-maher-and-stephen-a-smith-they-like-trump/

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New York Post · collected 2026-10-16 · by Steven Nelson

Quick Summary

President Trump hosted a dinner at the White House for comedian Bill Maher and sports commentator Stephen A. Smith on Thursday night. The president described the event as “a great dinner” where they discussed various topics and toured the White House ballroom. Earlier this year, Trump had criticized Smith, calling him derogatory names including "low IQ individual" and "dumb as a rock." Maher previously dined with Trump in an earlier visit to the White House.
Written by AI on 2026-10-16, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Summary of Events

Agreement on Socialism/Communism

Diverse Political Backgrounds

Topics Discussed

After-Dinner Tour

Impressions Post-Dinner

Context for Dinner

Contrasting Accounts

Media Coverage

Overall, despite their differing views, attendees found common ground and engaged in substantive conversation during an unexpectedly cordial dinner.

Written for “Trump's Dinner With Bill Maher Stephen A Smith And Kid Rock” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 7 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Trump's Dinner With Bill Maher Stephen A Smith And Kid Rock
Politics · 8 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Fox News
Hedges 3 of 39 claims Outlet record 69/100
Washington Examiner
Hedges 0 of 6 claims Outlet record 70/100
Fox News
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 2 of 15 claims Outlet record 69/100
Fox News
Hedges 1 of 34 claims Outlet record 69/100
New York Post
Hedges 1 of 37 claims Outlet record 66/100
The Independent
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 4 of 45 claims Outlet record 59/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
18
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 18 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
8
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-16 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 16360 article(s) · 35 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 35 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Steven Nelson
55 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
🔮 If Democrats take the Senate, Trump will have a much harder time winning confirmation for nominees to administration and judicial roles — and will face even more investigations.
🔮 President Trump had a one-word answer to whether he would resume attacks on Iran after the midterm elections.
🔮 Trump said he hoped that voters would do “the right thing,” but acknowledged history isn’t on his side. “For some reason, the sitting president doesn’t win the midterms, but we gave this a very strong shot,” he said, noting his 29 rallies across the country.
🔮 President Trump’s allies are bracing for legal bills that could reach into the millions as Democrats ready for investigations if they win the Tuesday midterm elections — but the administration is preparing to fight back and has a new tool to drag out proceedings.
🔮 The probe was closed in 2021 by the Biden administration — two years after she entered Congress — after authorities determined the alleged crime was outside a five-year statute of limitations, meaning it would have had to have been charged in 2014 at the latest.
🔮 “They thought they could get away with their crimes.
🔮 WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday hosted the recently released American inmate Stephen Hubbard at the White House — with the retired English teacher and veteran telling Trump he “wouldn’t have lasted another year” in Russian custody.
🔮 After moving to the more conservative suburban Will County, he requested Republican primary ballots in 2012, 2014 and 2016.
🔮 Vance announced last month that 750,000 enrollees would be booted from Obamacare for suspected fraudulent enrollment, with another 450,000 put under review.
🔮 “We may do another little Epic Fury,” he said at a Friday rally in Fort Myers, Fla.
Also by Steven Nelson
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 55 articles by Steven Nelson →

Topics

Georgia KingPin Blues Madams Organ New York WASHINGTON

Subjects

Trump PERSON · 6× Bill Maher PERSON · 3× Maher PERSON · 2× Smith PERSON · 2× Georgia GPE · 1× Kid Rock PERSON · 1× Madams Organ ORG · 1× Stephen A. PERSON · 1× Stephen A. Smith PERSON · 1× WASHINGTON GPE · 1×

Narrative

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.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-16

Claims (18 extracted, 0 hedged)

President Trump said he dined Thursday night with comedian Bill Maher, musician Kid Rock and sports commentator Stephen A. Smith. asserted
he → say → Maher
“I think they had a good time. asserted
they → think → 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. asserted
he → talk → 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. asserted
I → have → them
We had a great time.” asserted
We → have → time
“We even took a little tour of the ballroom. asserted
We → take → ballroom
We went inside the ballroom with beams that are being put up over our heads,” the president added. asserted
president → go → heads
Bill Maher, I tell you what, he likes me a lot more than people understand, and I actually like him.” asserted
I → tell → 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. asserted
Maher → report → 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? asserted
Maher → go → House
of course they came to enjoy a couple sets from KingPin Blues,” the bar wrote. asserted
bar → come → Blues
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. asserted
You → call → president
You need a high IQ. asserted
You → need → IQ
I’m not sure that Stephen has that. asserted
Stephen → ’m → that
I don’t think he does, actually,” the president said at the time. asserted
president → think → 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. asserted
person → din → House
A person who plays a crazy person on TV a lot lives there. asserted
who → play → TV
Which I know is f–ed up, it’s just not as f–ed up as I thought it was.” asserted
it → know → ?
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