Bill Maher is suddenly playing nice with Donald Trump—even after the president tried to stop a coveted award from making its way to the late-night host’s trophy case.
On Friday’s episode of Real Time With Bill Maher, the 70-year-old host addressed the week-long mess over his Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. While the comedian acknowledged the White House’s efforts to torpedo the honor, he then seemed to shrug it all off.
“I just want things to work out. I’m not looking for a fight, and I’m not mad that he did this,” Maher said in his monologue.
“Me and the president, we have a complicated relationship... this has been going on a long time, so him trying to block me from getting it? I respect the move.”
It was quite the pivot for the longtime Trump critic.
“Get it off your chest, big man,” Maher said.
Then came the line that raised eyebrows. Maher told viewers he’d happily attend the ceremony, and even invited Trump to show up, too.
“Thank me in person for being one of the few people on the lunatic left who’s glad you hit Iran and is hoping we win that one.”
Maher’s relationship with Trump has see-sawed for years, from lawsuits and late-night takedowns to a surprising White House dinner last year that Maher described as “gracious,” drawing backlash from fellow comedians.
But, more recently, the two have been back at each other’s throats.
“Bill Maher is a highly overrated LIGHTWEIGHT, and Republicans should stop using him to show how the Left is coming over our way,” Trump posted to Truth Social back in February.
“Bill continues to suffer from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS!), and there is nothing that will ever be done to cure him of this very serious disease.”
The latest flare-up came after The Atlantic reported on March that Maher had been selected for the Mark Twain Prize—one of comedy’s highest honors. Next, White House officials rushed to shoot the story down as “fake news.”
“This is fake news. Bill Maher will NOT be getting this award,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Daily Beast in a statement, although she did not offer further details.
Behind the scenes, the administration reportedly even intervened with the Kennedy Center to block Maher from receiving the prize, but the reversal didn’t last.
Days later, it was confirmed Maher would receive the prize after all. Maher, for his part, seems content to laugh it off.
“We have reached a compromise,” he joked on-air. “I am going to get it and then I’m going to give it to him.”
But beneath the punchlines, the shift in tone is hard to miss.
For a comic who built his brand on going after Trump, Maher now sounds more like someone trying to keep the line open—shrugging off a public snub and even finding common ground on foreign policy.
“Disengagement gets you nothing,” Maher said.
Maybe.
But after years of trading blows, this looked less like a fight and more like an attempt at a truce.
