By Katherine Tinsley
8:21am PDT, May 19, 2025
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"He was in the Middle East this week. A lot of stuff happened. He's in Saudi Arabia. Boy, they have a bromance going on over there," Bill Maher said in a Friday, May 16, episode of Real Time With Bill Maher.
"Well, they do, I mean… Bromance diplomacy, I call it, but, you know…Trump has a unique bond with the Saudis, they both reshaped the Manhattan skyline," Maher said, in reference to Trump's real estate career and the 9/11 terrorist attack, as Osama Bin Ladin was born in Saudi Arabia but was stripped of his citizenship.
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While in the Middle East, Donald Trump was pampered, as the Saudi Arbaian royals made sure to bring the president his favorite fast-food items.
Bill Maher told viewers: "They love him over there. They, these camels, they had to put that up. They had Teslas, they had horses, they have dancing girls, they said they had a purple carpet. I guess it's like a platinum gold card, you know, it's purple, not even red."
"And they also, listen to this, they set up a
mobile McDonald's there. A little different over there than McDonald's. The Happy Meal toy is a little bone saw," Maher shared.
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Bill Maher also discussed how the Qatari royal family made the controversial decision to gift Donald Trump a
luxury plane. However, Bill Maher noted the double standards between Donald Trump and
Barack Obama.
"You know, when you travel, you're like. You'd like to leave with a souvenir, right? So, he got a $400 million plane that they gave him. They gave him a $400 million plane, which he accepted," Bill Maher stated.
"Now, this has to be the ultimate if Obama did it, I think, you know, because… If Obama did it, Fox News would be endlessly calling it Allah Force One. So, I think I will call it that, Allah Force One," the comedian joked, as Qatar is a muslim-majority nation.
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According to reports, Donald Trump will use the Qatari plane temporarily as Air Force One.
Bill Maher said it is "moot anyway, because it's not going to be ready to be that if it was going to be Air Force One, so it would have to be private, which then it would be illegal."
"But you know, it doesn't matter. Trump says he will not be using it when he leaves office, and people don't believe that. Not the using it part, the leaving office part," the commentator added.
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While in the Middle East, Donald Trump celebrated a recent $600 billion deal between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.
"I will say I did that, and everyone will say, 'Meh.' But somebody's going to be cutting a ribbon and say — well, we're going to be finished long before that. But somebody's going to be taking the credit for this. You remember, press, this guy did it," Trump told reporters on Friday, May 16, according to
The Hill.
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After the White House announced Donald Trump was gifted a plane, the president began to push the narrative that critics of the gift were jealous.
"I just want to say, it was a radical left story. The people here, to show you how crazy it is, they would like me to pay a billion dollars," Trump told Fox News' Bret Baier.
