Kid Rock says he sat down for dinner at the White House with President Donald Trump, comedian Bill Maher and ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, and all four men left agreeing on one thing: socialism and communism have no place taking hold in American government.
Kid Rock, appearing on “Fox & Friends” Friday, described the dinner while discussing the Michigan Senate race and Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
“Last night, I’m having dinner at the White House with the president, Bill Maher and Stephen A. Smith. We all agreed socialism and communism has no place to have a foothold in our government,” Kid Rock said, adding of El-Sayed, “This guy is screaming socialism.”
Asked how the evening went, Kid Rock called it “epic.”
“There’s so many points, I could do an hour on it, is that, you know, two Democrats, two Republicans sit down, break bread, have laughs, talk about, have tough conversations on a lot of the issues,” he said.
The conversation reportedly ranged well beyond socialism. Maher raised the issue of U.S. interpreters and allies left behind in Afghanistan. Smith pressed on unemployment among Black women and funding for historically Black colleges and universities.
Kid Rock said he reminded Smith that Trump funded $174 million to HBCUs. Smith, according to Kid Rock, argued that Trump’s push to eliminate DEI programs has scared off corporate donations to those schools.
“I want to make the point. I’ll go out on a limb and say I’m speaking for President Trump and the administration saying, no, no, not only do we support, we want to encourage corporations to continue funding HBCUs and donating to them. We know how important education is, especially in the Black community, to strengthen Black families,” Kid Rock said.
This was not the first time Maher and Kid Rock have broken bread with Trump at the White House — the three met in 2025 as well. Maher has since said he’s doing it again. On his “Club Random” podcast, talking with Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel, Maher said Trump invited him back out of the blue.
“After the first dinner, I went back to doing what I do. … But then, like, he just, out of the blue, ‘Let’s have dinner again.’ And I was like, ‘Great.’ And he was really nice,” Maher said. “Like, ‘I promise I won’t say bad things about you like I did the last time.’ And I texted back, and I said, ‘You know what, you’re the president of the United States. Say whatever the f— you want. I’m just glad we’re talking.'”
Separately, Kid Rock also talked up his new album, “Halfway 2 Jesus,” on Fox’s “Outnumbered” Friday, which features Eminem and a late addition from Lil Wayne.
“Not just me and my old friend of nearly 40 years, Eminem. Lil Wayne came on last minute,” Kid Rock said. “Because me and Eminem decided a different song we did was more powerful than the other one we did, so it left a void there. And Lil Wayne, just being the ace he is.”
Kid Rock said contributors to the record span different backgrounds, religions and political beliefs, but came together around a single message.
“I haven’t promoted many records in the last 10, 15 years — but very important to promote this one because I’m promoting the message of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And that’s bigger than me,” he said.
