Bill Maher mocked Donald Trump over the elaborate tour he gave Chinese President Xi Jinping during Xi’s state visit to Washington, D.C.
During Friday’s episode of Real Time, Maher questioned whether Trump’s efforts to highlight changes around the White House would impress the Chinese leader. He focused his jokes on Trump showing Xi several renovation projects during the visit.
Bill Maher mocked Donald Trump for taking Xi Jinping on White House tour
Maher argued that Trump appeared eager to impress Xi by pointing out upgrades around the presidential residence.
“Trump thinks that Xi could give a fuck about being his friend,” Maher said. “So, it’s all personal.”
According to the report, Trump showed Xi a newly improved limousine drop-off area, a helipad and the construction site for a ballroom.
Maher used China’s large-scale construction projects as the setup for his joke about Trump’s White House tour.
“Does he know that China builds, like, entire cities in a week?” Maher asked. “And he’s showing him the new driveway? It’s like showing Gordon Ramsay how to reheat pizza.”
Maher then shifted his attention to Trump’s interest in redesigning parts of Washington and the White House. He joked about Trump’s proposed arch and performed an exaggerated impression of the president demanding one.
“We need an arch!” Maher said in character before continuing the bit about how Trump might explain the absence of one to Xi.
According to HuffPost, the comedian also made a wordplay joke about an “arch-criminal” while referring to Trump.
The report said Trump welcomed Xi at Joint Base Andrews before hosting events connected to the state visit. Trump and Xi later attended a state dinner with their wives and other guests, including technology executives.
Maher had previously met Trump for a private dinner, but the report said he continued making jokes about the president afterward.
He ended this particular segment by softening the tone of the routine.
“I kid,” Maher said. “It’s always with love, everybody.”
The segment centered on Maher’s view that Trump placed unusual emphasis on showing Xi physical upgrades around the White House rather than simply treating the tour as a ceremonial part of the visit.
