TV personality Bill Maher made headlines over the weekend after describing President Donald Trump as “gracious and measured” during a recent private dinner they had at the White House, along with musician Kid Rock. And the well-known cannabis enthusiast is insisting he “wasn’t high” for the meetup.
During an episode of his HBO series “Real Time With Bill Maher” on Friday, the host talked about his trip to meet the president. Maher has drawn criticism over his effusive comments about Trump’s demeanor during the dinner, which he said contrasts with his public-facing persona.
“You can hate me for it, but I’m not a liar. Trump was gracious and measured,” Maher said. “Why he isn’t that in other settings, I don’t know and I can’t answer, and it’s not my place to answer. I’m just telling you what I saw—and I wasn’t high.”
After a prolonged pause, he added, “Damn, missed opportunity.”
Maher said he abstained despite the fact that he’s made a habit of smoking marijuana with guests on his “Club Random” podcast.
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Trump’s initial pick for U.S. attorney general, declined to smoke a joint during an interview with Maher in January—but he did call out his party for being on the wrong side of the marijuana legalization debate.
During his run for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, Vivek Ramaswamy also talked about his support for federal marijuana legalization in an interview with Maher, saying the current state–federal conflict on cannabis is “a farce” that allows governments to unfairly target people.
And while he was running for the Democratic nomination before switching parties and being named Trump’s pick for U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also appeared on Maher’s show, where he spoke at length about his ambitious drug policy reform proposals.
But to Maher’s point about a “missed opportunity,” the host didn’t mention any attempt to put pressure on the president to advance cannabis reform, despite Maher’s longstanding support for legalization and embrace of marijuana culture.
Twelve days ago, I had dinner with President Trump, a dinner that my friend @KidRock set up because we share the belief that there has to be something better than hurling insults from 3000 miles away. pic.twitter.com/KE2t2eyBkI
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) April 12, 2025
On the campaign trail, Trump backed cannabis rescheduling, industry banking access and a Florida adult-use legalization ballot initiative that ultimately fell short. But he’s been notably silent on the issue since taking office.
And in the interim, cannabis consumers are feeling stressed, according to a recent poll that found half of U.S. adults who use cannabis say they expect to consume more cannabis under the Trump administration than they have before.
The findings seem to comport with another recent survey that showed cannabis consumers self-reporting higher levels of stress since Trump was inaugurated compared to the overall population.
Former officials with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and HHS also recently said that, without proactive advocacy for marijuana rescheduling from Trump personally, the process could stall indefinitely.
While HHS and the Justice Department backed marijuana rescheduling following the review initiated by former President Joe Biden, that process stalled near the end of his term due to issues in DEA administrative hearings.
Last week, DEA notified an agency judge that the cannabis rescheduling process is still on hold—with no future actions currently scheduled as the matter sits before the acting administrator, who has called cannabis a “gateway drug” and linked its use to psychosis.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia.
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