Bill Maher Says Donald Trump Texted Him 'You're Still a Lunatic' After Their Brief Truce

Bill Maher’s short-lived détente with President Donald Trump apparently ended the modern way: with an angry text.

During a July 15 appearance on NPR’s Newsmakers with Steve Inskeep, Maher recalled that Trump privately complained after Real Time returned to criticizing him following their April 2025 White House dinner.

“There was a time when he would yell at me” in text messages, Maher said.

Maher said that one message from Trump read, “I thought you were better than you used to be. You’re still a lunatic.”

Maher’s dinner with Trump was arranged by Kid Rock and quickly became a flashpoint for the comedian. Afterward, Maher described Trump as gracious and measured in private, saying the version he encountered seemed different from the president’s public persona.

The praise drew criticism from some of Maher’s own audience, but it did not soften his show’s coverage for long. Maher continued taking shots at Trump on Real Time, and Trump later made clear he viewed the meeting as a waste.

In February, Trump complained that Maher’s show had “devolved into the same old story—very boring, ANTI TRUMP,” and called him a “highly overrated LIGHTWEIGHT.” In May, he attacked Maher again as a “weak and ineffective person” and a “MORON.”

“When he insults me, people say, ‘Oh my God, he’s called you this,’” Maher said. “I say, ‘That’s just who he is.’”

He also defended the decision to meet with Trump in the first place, rejecting the argument that sitting down with him somehow elevated the president.

“Oh my God, what is he going to become — president?” Maher joked.

“He does look you in the eye and listen, and he does change his mind sometimes,” Maher said. “They need more people like me talking to him, not less.”

“A private text feels like we’re seeing what they never expected us to see,” said brand and communications consultant Sam Gauchier. “Whether it’s the full story almost becomes secondary. People feel like they’ve seen behind the curtain, and that’s what sticks.”

Gauchier said audiences increasingly treat leaked or revealed messages like serialized entertainment, with each new exchange becoming another installment to debate.

“We’ve reached a point where audiences don’t just want the interview anymore. They want the group chat,” she explained. “They don’t just want to know what someone said publicly. They want to know what they said when they thought nobody else was listening. It’s the difference between watching someone on stage and accidentally overhearing them at the next table.”