Trump says he's looking forward to meeting Bill Maher despite comedian's frequent criticism
President Donald Trump said Sunday that he wants to meet with comedian Bill Maher in the White House despite his misgivings about the HBO host's withering criticisms over the years.
"I got a call from a very good guy, and friend of mine, Kid Rock, asking me whether or not it would be possible for me to meet, in the White House, with Bill Maher, a man who has been unjustifiably critical of anything, or anyone, TRUMP," the president wrote in a post on Truth Social. "I really didn’t like the idea much, and don’t like it much now, but thought it would be interesting."
Maher, the host of "Real Time" who has called for progressives to better understand Trump's broad support, has said that he is honored to accept an invitation for a private meeting at the White House and believes that it may be a way of helping to "heal America." Kid Rock was a guest on Maher's program last month.
"Now, I don’t have some sort of complex where I think I can heal America," Maher said. "Let's get that clear, I'm not going to be healing America."
"It's kind of a Nixon-to-China thing," he added.
Trump explained in his post that he is meeting with Maher as a "favor to a friend" despite the possibility that the comedian will use the event to attack him in the press.
"The problem is, no matter how much he likes your Favorite President, ME, he will publicly proclaim what a terrible guy I am, etc., very much like the Democrats at my recent Address to the Joint Session of Congress, where I stated, correctly, that no matter what I said or did, they wouldn’t stand, they wouldn’t applaud, they wouldn’t smile or laugh and, certainly, they wouldn’t be in any way ‘nice,'" Trump wrote in his post. "Who knows, though, maybe I’ll be proven wrong?"
BILL MAHER REVEALS HE'S GOING TO MEET TRUMP AT THE WHITE HOUSE
"In any event, I’m doing a favor for a friend," he wrote. "I look forward to meeting with Bill Maher, Kid Rock and, I believe, even the Legendary Dana White will be present. It might be fun or, it might not, but you will be the first to know!"
Maher has stood out on the late-night circuit with his weekly HBO show as a staunch anti-Trump progressive who nevertheless calls out "woke" excesses on the left.
But he has emphasized that he does not anticipate his meeting with Trump will turn him into a Trump supporter.
"If they expect me to be leaving in a MAGA hat, they're gonna be very disappointed," Maher said earlier this month. "But I know they don't. It probably will accomplish very little, but you gotta try, man, you gotta try."
Fox News' Alexander Hall contributed to this report.