Bill Maher Compares His Upcoming Dinner With Donald Trump to Richard Nixon's 1972 Trip to China: 'I'm Not Going to Be Healing America'

Bill Maher is excited for his upcoming dinner with President Donald Trump at the White House.

The Real Time host spoke with NewsNation's Chris Cuomo on "The Chris Cuomo Project" podcast and compared the dinner to former President Richard Nixon's historic trip to China in 1972.

Maher told the NewsNation anchor, "Well, I’m doing it because first of all, it was presented as…"

"A dare?" asked Cuomo.

"Not a dare. No, just like, maybe this is a beginning to heal America. Now, I don’t have some sort of complex where I think I can heal America, I can’t. Okay, let’s get that clear. I’m not going to be healing America. But if two guys who’ve been at each other for so long — I mean, it’s kind of a Nixon to China thing," he explained.

Nixon made history when he became the first U.S. president to visit China in 1972. The trip was part of a larger effort to establish economic relations with the nation amid the Cold War.

"I have the credentials. There was nobody who was harder on Trump or more prescient about the fact that he wasn’t going to leave office voluntarily than I was," the HBO host continued. "I feel like I have the credentials. But they also respect me because I’m honest about the woke train to crazy town. And I don’t shrink from that. And I’ve also lost a lot of fans for that."

"The woke people have left the building, and I’m willing to make that sacrifice. But it does give you a certain credibility. So I just think to meet somebody, first of all, it’s an honor to be invited to the White House," Maher told Cuomo.

The NewsNation host praised Maher for accepting the dinner.

"It will probably accomplish very little," Maher admitted. "But you gotta try, man, you gotta try."

"I love it," Cuomo responded.

Earlier this month, Kid Rock told conservative radio host Glenn Beck how he set up the Maher and Trump dinner and hoped it could signal a sign of unity as the country continues to feel more divided than ever.

"Let’s start at the top with two very public figures, him, television comedian, you, president of the free world, and we can just break bread, have some laughs, take a picture and be like, hey, you know, we don’t agree on everything, but we got along," the musician explained. "Does that start to send a message to people, or do they just think I’m an idiot?"

As OK! previously reported, during a recent conversation with actor and activist Jane Fonda on Maher's "Club Random" podcast, Maher hinted at the idea of resigning from his hit political talk show due to the prevalence of Trump in the news.

"I mean, I may quit. I don't want to do another… I did Trump. I did all the Trump stuff before anybody," he said. "I called him a con man before anybody. I did, 'He's a mafia boss.' I was the one who said he wasn't going to concede the election. I've done it. I've seen this."

Fonda interjected, questioning Maher about Trump's lack of hostility toward him compared to other late-night hosts such as Jimmy Kimmel.

Maher clarified, "He's very hostile to me. He tweets about me every week... I'm bored with it."