Bill Maher said this week that his unusual connection with Donald Trump did not end after their widely discussed White House dinner in 2025. 

The comedian and Real Time with Bill Maher host claimed Trump still sends him angry text messages as their long-running public feud continues. He said Trump occasionally “yells” at him over text and accuses him of siding with what Trump calls the “lunatic left.” The host first discussed the messages during a recent CNN interview and returned to the topic on Friday’s episode of HBO’s Real Time. During the segment, he responded to Trump’s latest criticisms and offered additional details about their interactions.

He also pushed back on Trump’s public description of their March 2025 dinner at the White House.

According to Maher, several details Trump shared about the meeting were incorrect. Maher said he did not request the dinner, was not nervous about attending, and remained at the gathering for nearly three hours. He also joked that Trump misremembered what he drank, noting that he ordered a margarita rather than vodka.

The renewed exchange followed a February post from Trump on his social media platform, Truth Social. In the post, Trump described the dinner as “a total waste of time” and called Maher a “highly overrated LIGHTWEIGHT.”

Maher responded on Real Time by turning one of Trump’s own political jabs back on him, saying the former president appears to suffer from “Bill Maher Derangement Syndrome.”

At the same time, Maher said he does not view every issue through a purely partisan lens. During the discussion, he acknowledged that he agrees with some of Trump’s positions on topics such as NATO burden-sharing and certain foreign policy matters, though he stressed that this does not stop him from criticizing Trump’s rhetoric or political conduct.

Speaking with CNN, Maher suggested the text messages show that Trump continues to watch and react to his commentary. When asked whether Trump contacts him directly, he replied, “Yes! Yelling at me!” Maher said Trump scolds him for continuing to associate with what Trump describes as the “lunatic left,” even after the two met in person.

The comments add another chapter to a relationship that has drawn attention since Maher revealed details about the dinner last year. According to Maher, the meeting was arranged by musician Kid Rock, who has publicly supported Trump. The revelation sparked backlash from some of Maher’s viewers, who argued the comedian had been too cordial toward a political figure he had criticized for years.

Maher has repeatedly insisted that the dinner did not change his views. He said he simply wanted to meet Trump face to face and found that Trump behaved differently in private than in his public persona.

On Friday’s show, Maher used the renewed feud to reiterate his broader criticism of Trump.

While he said he hopes any American leader succeeds when the country’s interests are at stake, he also accused Trump of encouraging political division and undermining democratic norms. Despite the continued insults exchanged on social media and television, Maher’s latest remarks suggest that communication between the two has remained surprisingly direct.

Their history of clashes goes back more than a decade. In 2013, Trump filed a $5 million lawsuit against Maher after the comedian joked that Trump might be “the spawn of his mother having sex with an orangutan.” Maher had made the remark while promising to donate $5 million to charity if Trump produced proof he was not related to an orangutan.

Trump later released a copy of his birth certificate but ultimately dropped the lawsuit.