A routine Saturday evening segment on Fox News in which hosts praised comedian Bill Maher for challenging California Gov. Gavin Newsom has sparked a furious tirade from President Trump, who is now demanding the conservative network blacklist the HBO host entirely.
Trump unleashed a lengthy Truth Social screed on May 2, 2026, approximately half an hour after “The Big Weekend Show” wrapped a discussion of Maher’s Friday night interview with Newsom on “Real Time.” The 79-year-old president appeared to be watching live as Fox personalities delivered what amounted to praise for two of his frequent critics.
“Fox should stop putting this person on. He’s not representing us. You look weak, stupid, and ineffective, and I hate seeing that. DON’T USE BILL MAHER ANY LONGER AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF YOU!” Trump wrote, adding a parting shot at another frequent target: “Bill Maher is a MORON, though slightly more talented than Jimmy Kimmel.”
The Segment That Set Him Off
The Fox discussion that triggered Trump’s outburst featured network senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel and co-host Tomi Lahren analyzing Maher’s pointed questioning of Newsom about California’s economic struggles. A chyron declaring “The Truth Hurts” appeared beneath footage of the 70-year-old Maher grilling the governor on gas prices, rental costs and the state’s disastrous high-speed rail venture.
“I mean the train. Gavin, you got to get rid of the train. I say this as a friend, you got to let that train go,” Maher told Newsom — a jab at a project that forfeited roughly $4 billion in federal grants in July 2025 when the Trump administration withdrew funding. Lahren called the rail project a “boondoggle” and said she “loved” the way Maher “called him out.”
The rail initiative’s estimated price tag has now swelled to $231 billion, with the first operational segment potentially not opening until 2032. While construction on the Central Valley portion is underway — more than 50 structures have been completed and approximately 70 miles of rail bed installed — the full Los Angeles-to-San Francisco route remains a distant prospect.
A Familiar White House Grievance
Trump devoted part of his post to rehashing his widely publicized dinner with Maher at the White House in early 2025, depicting the comedian — who was recently named the next recipient of the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor — as anxious and overmatched in the Oval Office. He described Maher as “nervous, scared,” and said the comedian’s opening words were a request for alcohol, characterizing the exchange as “endearing but, at the same time, absolutely pathetic.”
Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration with conservatives who occasionally celebrate Maher. He has previously called on Republicans to stop holding up the HBO host as evidence that “the Left is coming over our way.” On Valentine’s Day 2026, he posted a similarly scathing rant labeling Maher a “jerk,” a “highly overrated LIGHTWEIGHT” and someone suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” This latest broadside continues that pattern.
Newsom’s “Mirror” Defense
During the actual HBO interview, Maher confronted Newsom over the governor’s increasingly combative online behavior and his $787 million lawsuit against Fox News. The comedian observed that among Democrats eyeing a potential 2028 run, Newsom seems to be lifting tactics straight from Trump’s own playbook of trolling and courtroom warfare.
The 58-year-old governor pushed back hard. “I’m trying to put a mirror up to Donald Trump,” Newsom said. He further attacked the president for refusing to “unite this country in any way, shape, or form” and characterized modern politics as “the sewer we’re now living in because of Donald Trump.”
Maher, however, wouldn’t allow Newsom to dodge questions about California’s actual performance. When the governor responded with an enthusiastic “good!” to the notion that opponents would challenge his statistics, Maher shot back: “Are they gonna say ‘good’ about gas prices? Are they gonna say ‘good’ about how high the rents are?” Lahren subsequently seized on that moment to portray what she called a “smug” Newsom being forced into a corner.
Trump’s California Indictment
The bulk of Trump’s marathon Truth Social posts amounted to a sweeping attack on Newsom — whom he referred to as “Newscum.” The president accused the governor of taking Maher “over the coals” because the comedian was “defenseless, and totally deficient,” unable to mount any substantive defense of California’s record.
Trump rattled off a litany of what he characterized as the state’s catastrophic failures: rampant homelessness in Los Angeles and San Francisco, a high-speed rail project he called “Billions of Dollars over budget,” and approximately 25,000 homes lost to wildfires earlier in 2026. He claimed EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin deserves credit for salvaging the reconstruction effort, declaring, “If it weren’t for our Superstar EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, and me, they wouldn’t have any homes being built right now!”
The president also asserted that California is losing population, stating that “for the first time in History, more people are leaving than coming.”
What started as a simple panel segment on a network that has served as Trump’s most dependable media ally for years ended with the president publicly eviscerating that same channel — all because two Fox hosts momentarily agreed with a comedian Trump despises.