Liberal comedian and commentator Bill Maher acknowledged Monday that he misjudged President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, conceding that he expected them to harm the U.S. economy—but they haven’t.
Speaking on his “Club Random” podcast in a conversation with progressive YouTube host Brian Tyler Cohen, Maher said he’s always tried to be honest with his audience, even when it means admitting he got something wrong.
“Just to take an example—tariffs,” Maher began. “I remember saying, along with probably most people, ‘Oh, by the 4th of July, the economy will be tanked.’ And I thought, ‘Yeah, that sounds right to me.’ But that didn’t happen.”
He continued: “It could happen tomorrow, but it hasn’t yet. That’s just the reality. And we need to start from reality—not from ‘I just hate Donald Trump,’ because that’s boring and dishonest.”
Maher went on to say that while he doesn’t fully understand Trump’s strategy, the results are undeniable.
“The stock market is at record highs,” he said. “I drive around—I don’t see a country in a depression. People are living their lives. I thought these tariffs would absolutely tank the economy by now. I was wrong. I’ve got to own it. So how do we deal with that fact?”
Cohen agreed, saying the tariff issue is exactly why he’s stopped making bold political predictions. “If I were good at predictions, Hillary Clinton would’ve been president in 2016,” he quipped.
Back in April, Maher had mocked Trump’s approach to China, calling it “completely ass-backwards” and even joked about rooting for a recession to force the administration to reverse course. At the time, he said Trump had picked a fight “with the wrong bully.”
Maher has frequently questioned Trump’s push to revive U.S. manufacturing, once asking his “Real Time” audience, “Why do we want to bring back manufacturing? It’s so 70s.” He argued that low-wage production was no longer viable in the U.S. and that any new factory jobs would likely be filled by automation anyway. “He acts like progress itself is woke,” Maher said.
Despite widespread criticism early on, Trump’s tariff policies have reshaped global trade talks. On Sunday, the White House announced a new agreement with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to impose a 15% tariff on most EU goods imported to the United States—avoiding what many feared would be a prolonged trade war.
Maher’s candid comments mark a rare moment of praise from a vocal Trump critic—and reflect a broader reckoning on the left about the real-world impact of Trump’s economic strategies.
