Overview
- President Donald Trump posted a Truth Social message this week calling Maher “Low Ratings Bill Maher” and accusing his show of using a “fake ‘laughing machine,’” a direct social-media attack picked up by multiple outlets.
- Maher answered on his HBO show during Friday’s Real Time monologue by mocking the jab, turning Trump’s criticism into a punch line while noting the president’s roughly mid-30s approval rating.
- Real Time’s production leaned into the insult by cutting to stock footage of audience applause to lampoon the “fake laughing machine” claim, a visual gag that was highlighted in coverage.
- During the same segment Maher referenced press reports about an angry phone call between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, using that item to frame the president as being in a foul mood.
- The back-and-forth continues a pattern of intermittent public feuding between the two men since their March 2025 White House dinner, and the episode shows how personality clashes on social platforms drive media attention without reported policy consequences.