HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher opened its 24th season Friday night with a sharp focus on the week’s most confusing diplomatic story. Maher went straight to the point regarding President Donald Trump’s appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The topic was familiar: the President’s erratic push to purchase Greenland, a storyline that dominated the opening monologue.
Maher, who has covered the Trump era closely, described the administration’s approach to the territory in blunt terms. He told his audience the President’s strategy looked like “a dog eating its own vomit.” The comparison drew a distinct reaction from the studio audience—part laughter, part grimace.
“Greenland. That was the big story. Greenland, I thought he forgot about,” Maher said, reminding the crowd that this wasn’t new. “Remember at the beginning of the term it was Greenland and then it was like, okay, you know, sometimes the brain farts pass.”
But the “brain fart” didn’t pass, Maher noted. It spiraled into a mix of threats and confusion. The host pointed out that the rhetoric briefly escalated to the point of military options before the administration abruptly walked it back. Maher pinned the pivot on the situation’s obvious absurdity. He also targeted Pete Hegseth, the defense official, joking that he “got so excited, he droned a dog sled.”
Bill Maher rips Trump over the killing of Renee Good, calls it an “execution in the street”. pic.twitter.com/6KnX8jZG6n
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) January 24, 2026
The comedian also highlighted a specific stumble from the Davos trip. In a room full of world leaders, Donald Trump reportedly struggled to keep his Nordic nations straight. “He kept saying Iceland when he meant Greenland,” Maher said. “He kept confusing Greenland, which is so awkward when you’re f—— one country and you yell out the name of another.”
Maher saw the eventual policy reversal as a problem that didn’t exist until Donald Trump created it. “It’s a little like when the dog throws up on the rug, and then he eats it,” Maher said. “You know?”
He was equally skeptical of the so-called “new framework” for the deal. Maher argued that the administration was selling a vague concept rather than a plan, comparing it to Trump’s past healthcare promises. “We get bases there in Greenland. We get to build new ones. We get to do mining. We need to keep Russia out,” Maher listed. “All of which we had anyway. But now everybody hates us. What Fox News calls the art of the deal.”
The episode included a panel with CNN anchor Kasie Hunt, Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, and retired Army Major General Paul Eaton. But underneath the jokes, Maher signaled he might be done with the topic entirely. As previously reported, he told Jane Fonda on his Club Random podcast that he is tired of the cycle. “I mean I may quit,” he said. “I did Trump. I did all the Trump stuff before anybody… I’ve seen this f——.”
“You have to out stupid them.”
— Bill Maher on Gavin Newsom trolling Trump in Trump’s own voice. pic.twitter.com/vziTZZZ9rb
— Blue Georgia (@BlueATLGeorgia) August 23, 2025
When Fonda asked why Donald Trump attacks other hosts like Jimmy Kimmel more often, Maher was candid. “He’s very hostile to me. He tweets about me every week,” Maher explained. “Every week he accidentally watches my show and goes, ‘Low ratings loser!’ I’m bored with it.”
Donald Trump has not ignored the attacks. In September, he posted on Truth Social that the show’s audience reaction “sounds like a bad ‘Laugh Machine,’” calling it “obnoxious and disgusting, just like him”. Despite the boredom he claims, Maher’s Friday performance suggests he isn’t letting go of the subject just yet.
