Bill Maher Reveals Surprising Reason He’s Jealous of Trump

Real Time host Bill Maher has revealed the surprising reason he is envious of Donald Trump.  And it’s to do with the way the president confronts journalists during interviews.

Speaking with his guest, Kevin Spacey, on the latest episode of the Club Random podcast, Maher said there are times when he wants to hit back at the media but “won’t, about anything, because you just don’t want to pick that fight with them.” Trump, however, has no such compunctions when it comes to getting combative with reporters.

“Sometimes, when I see Trump just speak his complete internal monologue without doing things that, it’s just like… he will say something, and the one I’m thinking of is like, I’ve wanted to say that.” The specific example Maher was thinking of was, “When somebody pi--ed him off in an interview, he just went, ‘You’re a terrible person!'”

After laughing about it with Spacey, Maher stated, “I can’t deny… there’s a moment where I would have… that’s exactly what I was thinking: ‘You’re a terrible person, it’s not a sincere question, it’s a gotcha thing, it’s a virtue-signaling thing, you don’t believe it yourself.’ But I don’t.”

Elsewhere in the interview, the comedian said that “Trump changed the rules of what we expect from a president, what a president can do.”

“Don’t you think that’s part of the reason that he won?” Spacey asked.

“Absolutely,” Maher replied. “It’s amazing. [Trump]’s at the same time the most full of s--- person and also the most authentic. I mean, again, to say to somebody ‘You’re a terrible person,’ say what you want, it’s pretty authentic.”

Maher has both criticized and complimented Trump in recent years and even accepted an invitation to the White House. The pair had dinner together in March 2025, and, at the time, both spoke positively about the meeting. However, in recent months, Trump has lashed out at Maher, writing on Truth Social, “It was a total waste of time for me to have this jerk at the White House.”

“Fortunately, [Maher’s] Television Ratings are so low that nobody will learn about his various Fake News statements about me,” the president continued, adding that Maher was “scared” to meet him and needed vodka to calm his nerves.

Maher fired back at these claims on Real Time in March, insisting, “I wasn’t nervous and scared, and the dinner wasn’t quick. I was there almost three hours. And it wasn’t vodka, it was a margarita.” He added, “I was having a good time. So were you, Don, because we were talking like real humans, not like that crazy act you put on in public.”