Stephen A. Smith, the longtime sports commentator and recent critic of President Donald Trump, reportedly joined the president for dinner at the White House alongside musician Kid Rock and comedian Bill Maher on Thursday.
Trump confirmed the dinner happened while speaking to the White House press corps on Friday.
“The dinner last night with Kid Rock, Stephen A. and Bill Maher was great,” said Trump. “I think they had a good time.”
He added: “Stephen A. is great. Bill Maher, I’ll tell you what, he likes me a lot more than people understand, and I actually like him.”
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Kid Rock dished about the gathering while speaking to Fox News on Friday, saying it was “epic.”
“Two Democrats, two Republicans sit down, break bread, have laughs, have tough conversations on a lot of the issues,” said Kid Rock, noting the group discussed “everything from socialism and communism to the war in Iran.”
Smith and Maher both publicly identify as Democrats, and one of the few things the group agreed on was that “socialism and communism [have] no place to have a foothold in our government,” Kid Rock said.
The musician and comedian both had dinner with the president at the White House last year.
But it appears this was Smith’s first time meeting Trump at the White House.
During the dinner, Smith apparently discussed unemployment among Black women and funding for historically Black colleges and universities. Kid Rock recalled Smith telling the president that corporations have been discouraged from donating to the institutions after Trump put a “dagger through the heart of DEI.”
The musician said he spoke for the president when he told the show hosts, “We want to encourage corporations to continue funding HBCUs and donating to them because we know how important education is … to strengthening Black families.”
Smith is weighing a 2028 presidential bid, the sports analyst told CBS Sunday Morning earlier this year.
“I think that the American people deserve to listen to and hear from somebody who genuinely cares about making life better for them,” he told the program, Deadline reported.
Smith has taken issue with the president in the past. Days before Trump was set to attend Game 3 of this year’s NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden, Smith criticized the president and said his presence could cause delays and interfere with watch parties across New York City.
After Smith’s remarks, the president called him an “arrogant fool” and a “low IQ individual” in a Truth Social post. “Totally unqualified to ever think of running for high political office.”
Smith continued the beef on his SiriusXM Sports Show, stating he’d “smoke” Trump in a debate “any time, any place, anywhere.”
Maher has similarly been an outspoken critic of the president but has notably softened his tone since Trump returned to office last year.
Maher confirmed he’d be attending this week’s dinner while speaking on an episode of his “Club Random” podcast released Monday.
At the gathering, he discussed bringing Afghan interpreters who worked alongside U.S. military and government forces to the U.S., Kid Rock said.
In April, The New York Times reported Trump was in talks to relocate approximately 1,100 Afghans who assisted in the war to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Maher said the president invited him to dinner “out of the blue” following last year’s meal.
The comedian described the president as “really nice” and said the commander-in-chief promised not to say bad things about him.
Maher texted back: “You know what, you’re the president of the United States …I’m just glad we’re talking.”
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