- Sign up to our DC Insider newsletter – your guide to what's rocking Washington, rattling the White House and setting tongues wagging on the Hill
Donald Trump held a high-powered roundtable at the White House Thursday, with conservative rock star Kid Rock dining alongside sports pundit Stephen A Smith and liberal comedian Bill Maher.
asserted
Rock → sign → Smith
Maher had made headlines after having a mostly positive sit-down with Trump - who once sued the HBO comic for saying his father was an orangutan - in March of 2025.
asserted
father → make → 2025
Though both had returned to insulting one another in the months since, Maher attended alongside longtime friend Rock and frequent guest and ESPN star Smith.
asserted
Maher → return → Rock
Speaking on Fox News Friday, Rock revealed what the four men from wildly different backgrounds all agreed upon in the room at what he called an 'epic' dinner.
asserted
he → speak → what
'One thing we all wholeheartedly agreed on is that socialism and communism has no place to have a foothold in our government,' he said, as part of a critique of Democrat Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
asserted
he → agree → Sayed
'Two Democrats, two Republicans sit down, break bread, have laughs, have tough conversations on a lot of the issues,' is how Rock - real name Bob Ritchie - described it.
asserted
Rock → sit → it
Maher, he said, brought up the war in Iran and bringing back interpreters from the war in Afghanistan that helped Americans during the fighting.
asserted
that → say → fighting
Smith, speaking to Sean Hannity on Friday, said that he brought up issues with funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
asserted
he → speak → Colleges
Donald Trump held a high-powered roundtable at the White House Thursday, with conservative rock star Kid Rock dining alongside sports pundit Stephen A Smith and liberal comedian Bill Maher.
asserted
Rock → hold → Smith
Pictured: Maher, Rock and Trump with Dana White at their first dinner together in March 2025
Speaking on Fox News Friday, Rock (pictured) revealed what the four men from wildly different backgrounds all agreed upon in the room at what he called an 'epic' dinner
While he praised Trump for signing the Futures Act, which delivered over $250 million annual for HBCUs, that the President's war on 'DEI' had made corporations worried about donating to them for fear they'd be attacked on those grounds.
asserted
they → picture → grounds
'He took heed to that and said that was something he was going to think about strongly,' Smith added, saying Trump promised he would meet with his people next week on the issue.
asserted
he → take → issue
Maher has yet to speak out about the gathering, as his HBO show was on hiatus this week.
asserted
show → have → hiatus
Smith and Maher were spotted later that not at the famous Washington DC jazz bar Madam's Organ, celebrating the sports commentator's birthday.
asserted
Smith → spot → birthday
Trump, for his part, was delighted with how the 'great' evening had went when asked about it by the press on Friday.
asserted
evening → delight → Friday
'I think they had a good time,' he said, adding that Smith and Maher are especially fond of him despite their political leanings.
'
asserted
Smith → think → leanings
Even though they have to 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
He added that he, Smith, Maher and Rock all 'took a little tour' of the new White House ballroom.
asserted
he → add → ballroom
Maher (pictured), Rock said, brought up the war in Iran and bringing back interpreters from the war in Afghanistan that helped Americans during the fighting
Smith, speaking to Sean Hannity on Friday, said that he brought up issues with funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities
'Bill Maher, I tell you what, he likes me a lot more than people understand, and I actually like him.
Maher said Trump was 'gracious and measured' in what he described as a positive meeting with the president back in March of 2025.
Maher has always attacked Trump on his HBO show dating back over a decade, when the two were involved in a lawsuit over Maher claiming the president's father was an orangutan.
asserted
father → picture → lawsuit
On his show following the summit, he took time out exclusively to 'give you my book report on my visit to the White House.'
asserted
he → follow → House
The lefty comedian confirmed the meeting had been arranged by musician and Trump fan Rock, who also attended: 'Because we share a belief that there's gotta be something better than hurling insults at each other from 3,000 miles away.'
asserted
we → confirm → other
He slammed those who saw the event as some kind of important diplomacy meeting.
asserted
who → slam → meeting
'For all the people who treated this like it was some sort of summit meeting, you're ridiculous.
asserted
you → treat → meeting
Like I was gonna sign a treaty or something?
asserted
I → go → treaty
I'm a f***ing comedian, I have no power!
asserted
I → have → power
He's the most powerful leader in the world, I'm not the leader of anything,' Maher said.
asserted
Maher → say → anything
The comic did say that he wanted to represent 'a contingent of centrist-minded people who believe there's got to be a better way of running this country than hating each other every minute.'
Trump motions to the press as he walks to board Air Force One on Friday
Smith and Maher were spotted later that not at the famous Washington DC jazz bar Madam's Organ, celebrating the sports commentator's birthday
Longtime critic Bill Maher said Donald Trump was 'gracious and measured' in what he described as a positive meeting with the president , to the point that he walked away with a cheeky gift
He confirmed that Trump was a 'different' person than he'd seen in the public eye over the last decade and even the night before, when the president publicly wondered if the meeting was even a good idea.
'
asserted
meeting → say → decade
The guy I met is not the person who, the night before, s***-tweeted a bunch of nasty crap about how he thought this dinner was a bad idea, and what a deranged asshole I was.
asserted
I → meet → crap
'He's much more self-aware than he lets on in public,' Maher added.
asserted
Maher → let → public
Perhaps most striking to Maher was that Trump 'laughed' and has a sense of humor about himself.
asserted
Trump → laugh → himself
'First good sign, before I left for the capital, I had my staff collect and print out this list of almost 60 different insulting epithets that the president said about me,' Maher said.
'
asserted
Maher → leave → me
I brought this to the White House because I wanted him to sign it, which he did with good humor,' he added.
asserted
he → bring → humor
He joked about how the hoards of MAGA haters must be hating this: 'I know as I say that, millions of liberal sphincters just tightened.'
asserted
millions → joke → sphincters
'I'm gonna report what happened and you decide.
asserted
you → go → ?
If that's not enough pure Trump hate for you, I don't give a f***,' Maher said unapologetically.
asserted
Maher → give → *
Maher has dinner in the White House with President Donald Trump, Kid Rock and Dana White
asserted
Maher → have → White
Trump signed a list of insults the president had directed at Maher over the years 'with good humor'
asserted
president → sign → humor
He said that the president did not ask him for his support and when he gifted Maher several Trump hats, he didn't ask him to take a photograph wearing them.
asserted
he → say → them
'I'm just taking it as a positive this person exists because everything I've ever not like about him was, I swear to God, absent, at least on this night with this guy,' he said.
asserted
he → take → guy
The discussion largely was one of Trump asking for Maher's thoughts on various hot political topics, which he said he was heard out on, if not agreed with.
asserted
he → ask → which
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
