{"id":356420,"date":"2026-05-17T14:25:54","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T19:25:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/bill-maher-mocks-trumps-lovefest-with-xi-jinping-after-china-summit-he-holds-the-cards-now"},"modified":"2026-05-17T14:26:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T19:26:01","slug":"bill-maher-mocks-trumps-lovefest-with-xi-jinping-after-china-summit-he-holds-the-cards-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/bill-maher-mocks-trumps-lovefest-with-xi-jinping-after-china-summit-he-holds-the-cards-now","title":{"rendered":"Invoice Maher Mocks Trump\u2019s \u2018Lovefest\u2019 With XI Jinping After China Summit: \u2018He Holds the Playing cards Now\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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There are diplomatic wins, and then there are diplomatic wins that get roasted on HBO. Donald Trump returned from Beijing with commitments for more than 200 Boeing aircraft, glowing praise for Chinese President Xi Jinping, and the kind of ceremonial treatment that usually makes world leaders walk a little slower on purpose. Bill Maher looked at the same trip on Real Time<\/em> and basically said, okay, but are we all watching the same thing here?<\/em><\/p>\n

The summit itself took place on May 14 and 15<\/a> at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. It was the first visit by a sitting American president to China in about 9 years, and it came after months of brutal tariff warfare between the two countries.<\/p>\n

\"BEIJING\"\"CEO\"
U.S. President DONALD TRUMP and his Chinese counterpart XI JINPING. Photo credit: ZUMAPRESS.com \/ MEGA
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By the end of the trip, Trump was calling Xi a friend, thanking him repeatedly for the hospitality, and telling reporters they felt similarly about Iran. Then, on Friday night, Maher sat behind his desk, and suddenly the summit turned into late-night television material.<\/p>\n

When the Red Carpet Starts Doing the Heavy Lifting<\/h2>\n

Maher wasted absolutely no time setting the tone. \u201cTrump: he hates China, but he loves Xi,\u201d he told the audience. \u201cTo say this was a lovefest between these two guys was an understatement. As he left, (Trump) thanked Xi profusely for his hospitality. And Xi thanked Trump for making China way more popular around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Honestly, Xi barely needed Maher\u2019s help there because that line already sounded like it came with its own sitcom laugh track. The visuals from the trip did not exactly help either. Trump got the full treatment at the Great Hall of the People with a 21-gun salute, honor guards, and dozens of children waving American and Chinese flags<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Chinese\"HBO\"
U.S. President DONALD TRUMP and Chinese President XI JINPING. Photo credit: ZUMAPRESS.com \/ MEGA
\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Then Xi brought Trump\u00a0<\/a>to Zhongnanhai<\/a>, the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s headquarters<\/span>\u00a0beside the Forbidden City. Foreign leaders almost never get access to that compound. It is one of those locations that sounds mysterious even when you read the name out loud.<\/p>\n

Maher\u2019s entire point was basically that China knew exactly what kind of pageantry Trump enjoys and played directly into it.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know what? China knows what Trump likes,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat does he like? He likes the pomp and the parades, and he likes the red carpet, and there were thousands of children waving American flags. And Xi, he\u2019s clever, you know? He knows. He bargained like someone who knows he holds the cards now, ever since Trump backed down on their big trade war.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then came the joke that instantly took over social media clips from the episode. \u201cIn fact, as a subtle dig, they served orange chicken.\u201d<\/p>\n

The actual menu did not include orange chicken. It featured dishes like kung pao chicken, seafood, scallops, beef and mushrooms, stewed beef buns, and dumplings. Maher completely made up the orange chicken part, which, honestly, made it funnier because everybody immediately understood the joke anyway.<\/p>\n

Then, he kept going. \u201cTrump says with Xi, there\u2019s no games with him. It\u2019s getting a little weird, you know? At one point, Xi told his translator, \u2018Tell Trump, don\u2019t catch feelings.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rare Earth Reality Behind the Jokes<\/h2>\n
\"Kid\"President\"
Bill Maher. Image Credit: Adriana M. Barraza \/ WENN.com via MEGA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What gave the monologue real weight beyond the punchlines was the trade backdrop beneath it all. Earlier in 2025, Trump launched sweeping tariffs against China<\/a>, and Beijing responded aggressively. The tariff numbers grew rapidly, but China also leaned on something far more strategic than taxes. Rare earth minerals.<\/p>\n

China controls about 60% of global rare-earth mining and more than 90% of refining, according to the International Energy Agency<\/a>. Those minerals are deeply tied to military equipment, semiconductor production, and advanced manufacturing. Basically, this is the kind of leverage that makes governments hold emergency meetings while pretending to be totally calm.<\/p>\n

China restricted rare earth exports<\/a> in April 2025 and tightened those restrictions again in October. Both times, the Trump administration threatened retaliation. Both times, negotiations ended with a step back instead.<\/p>\n

That context sat underneath every joke Maher made about Xi \u201cholding the cards.\u201d The comedy worked because the trade numbers and the diplomatic timeline were already sitting there in plain sight.<\/p>\n

Sean Hannity Accidentally Walked Into the Setup<\/h2>\n
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Bill Maher: \u201cSean Hannity was on the trip [to China]. They did an interview. I don\u2019t want to say Sean Hannity lobs a lot of softballs, but today he was made an honorary l*sbian.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/lGJeESEKGV<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Sergeant News Network (@sgtnewsnetwork) May 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Maher then moved to Trump\u2019s interview with Fox News anchor Sean Hannity, who traveled with the delegation in Beijing. Trump described Xi as a \u201ctough cookie\u201d and praised him repeatedly during the sit-down.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe calls him a tough cookie. He loves a tough cookie. He says, \u2018He\u2019s a great leader, I say that to everybody,\u2019\u201d Maher said.<\/p>\n

Then he added, \u201cHe didn\u2019t say it to me. But, you know, maybe he did, and I didn\u2019t hear it because I was so nervous.\u201d<\/p>\n

That joke was a callback to Trump\u2019s Valentine\u2019s Day Truth Social post<\/a>, where he claimed Maher had been nervous during their White House dinner earlier this year. Maher publicly disputed that claim<\/a> afterward, and clearly, he had not forgotten about it.<\/p>\n

Maher continued by quoting Trump\u2019s comments about Xi again. \u201cI\u2019m glad our leaders of these two powerful countries with nuclear weapons aren\u2019t fighting, but it\u2019s getting a little, you know. You know what Trump said about Xi? If you went to Hollywood you could not find in central casting a better guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then Hannity caught a stray, too. \u201cAnd I gotta say also, the right-wing media. Sean Hannity was on the trip. They did an interview. I don\u2019t want to say Sean Hannity lobs a lot of softballs, but today he was made an honorary lesbian.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even the billionaire guests got dragged into the bit. \u201cVery sweet moment when the CEO of Apple he saw all of the kids and said, \u2018Get back to work.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

And then there was Elon Musk. \u201c(Musk) was there in a suit! You don\u2019t see that often. It shows the respect Elon Musk has for the Chinese leadership. And, out of respect for the one child rule that was pillar of Chinese society for so long, while he was in China for two days, Elon only fathered one child.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Bill Maher: \u201cWe got Elon Musk. He was [in China] in a suit. You don\u2019t see that very often. That shows the respect Elon has for the Chinese leadership and out of respect for the one-child rule\u2026 while he was in China for two days, Elon only fathered one child.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/0L9E6bOa0K<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) May 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Trump and Maher History Sitting Underneath All This<\/h2>\n

Part of why the monologue sounds the way it does is that Maher and Trump already have a very public history. Earlier in 2025, Kid Rock arranged a dinner between them<\/a> at the White House. Afterward, Maher told viewers<\/a> Trump had been \u201cgracious and measured\u201d in person and said meeting face to face was \u201cbetter than hurling insults from 3,000 miles away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then came Valentine\u2019s Day 2026<\/a>, when Trump went after Maher on Truth Social, calling him a \u201cjerk,\u201d dismissing the dinner as \u201ca total waste of time,\u201d and accusing him of missing a joke about China hypothetically forcing Canada to give up hockey.<\/p>\n