New rule: if I’m going to criticize the President of the United States, then I’m going to eat dinner with the President of the United States. That may as well have been one of the no-no’s to start Friday’s episode of “Real Time With Bill Maher,” which opened with the host detailing his March 31 visit to the White House to meet with President Trump. Maher, who’s been an outspoken critic of the Commander-in-chief since before his first presidential term, recounted the evening in a lengthy monologue at the top of the show.

“Let me first say that to all the people who treated this like it was some sort of summit meeting, ‘You’re ridiculous,’” Maher started off. “Like I was going to sign a treaty or something? I have no power. I’m a fucking comedian.”

Maher then touted that he got the president to sign a sheet of paper listing numerous insults that Trump had levied against Maher over the years, including “low-life” and “his show is dead.” But the host’s tone changed shortly after that.

“The guy I met is not the guy who the night before the dinner shit-Tweeted a bunch of nasty crap about how this dinner was a bad idea and what a deranged asshole I was,” Maher said. “Just for starters: he laughs. I’ve never seen him laugh in public. But he does, including at himself. He’s not fake.”

Maher noted a standout moment while touring the White House: “I don’t remember what we were talking about, but it must’ve been something with the 2020 election. Because I know he distinctly used the world ‘lost.’ And I said, ‘Wow, I never thought I’d hear you say that.’ He didn’t get mad. He’s much more self-aware than he lets on in public.”

The host also shared that he remained “not MAGA” and that the conversation covered his own criticisms of the Trump admin, including its collapse of President Obama’s 2015 deal with Iran to limit the country’s nuclear program. He also said that he praised Trump for signaling for DEI having “gone too far,” legislation against trans athletes and ongoing support for Israel military action in Gaza. Maher noted that his takeaway from the President’s private candor with him was “emblematic of why the Democrats are so unpopular these days.”

“Look, I get it. It doesn’t matter who he is at a private dinner with a comedian. It matters who he is on the world stage. I’m just taking it as a positive that this person exists. Because everything I’ve ever not liked about him was — I swear to God — absent, at least on this night with this guy,” Maher said, later describing the president as “gracious.” “He mostly steered the conversation to, ‘What do you think about this?’ I know: your mind is blown. So is mine.”

“A crazy person doesn’t live in the White House. A person who plays a crazy person on TV a lot lives there, which I know is fucked up,” Maher added. “It’s just not as fucked up as I thought it was.”

Maher had previously teased that he had much to share about his March 31 meeting with Trump, sharing a post on X the following morning to say, “Hey everybody, thank you for all the interest in my dinner with the president last night – I promise, all will be revealed on the next [‘Real Time’] … As it’s April 1 today, no one would believe what I said today anyway!”

The dinner was organized by musician Kid Rock, a longtime supporter of Trump and one of his more outspoken fans from the entertainment industry. Kid Rock was present for the meeting between Maher and the president.

Since Maher’s meeting with Trump, the administration has faced heightened criticism for inflicting mass tariffs against all U.S. trade partners, a move that led to historic daily collapses in the global stock market. After announcing the policy on April 2, President Trump has since ordered a 90-day pause on global tariffs, though the admin has hiked policies on China to 145%, spurring retaliatory tariffs from the country and putting the world’s two biggest economies in a trade war.

Maher acknowledged the change in the news cycle at the top of his monologue: “He put tariffs on every country in the world and of course the stock market plunged. And the next day he went, ‘Well, I didn’t say ‘Simon says.’”

Guests on this week’s episode of “Real Time” included Steve Bannon, Piers Morgan and Josh Rogin.