Comedian Bill Maher had a topical jab at President Trump’s “enemies list” by comparing the president’s bottomless well of grudges to pop star Taylor Swift.
“Trump is going after anyone who’s ever pissed him off,” quipped Maher during Friday night’s Real Time with Bill Maher monologue. “He’s like an authoritarian Taylor Swift.”
Maher was referring to the barrage of legally dubious indictments Trump has ordered against his political enemies, including former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and his former National Security Adviser, John Bolton. Comey and James were major figures in legal cases against Trump—Russiagate and a fraud case against the Trump Organization, respectively—while Bolton wrote an unflattering book about the president.
Maher’s quip came amidst an extended riff on Trump suddenly saying he’s “not a king” ahead of Saturday’s nationwide “No Kings” protests.
Of note, in February, The White House posted a mock-up of a Time cover (the magazine now titled “TRUMP”) featuring Trump in a crown and a tagline “Long Live the King.”
“[Trump] denied it,” said Maher, before joking, “He said, ‘I am not a king. I have no intention of becoming a king, but if some country wants to donate a gold crown, I’m not gonna say no.’”
Speaking of Trump’s supposed “enemies list,” Maher joked, “Why would you think King? The enemies list? I remember when Nixon, you know, they accused Nixon of having an enemies list and he denied it. Trump reads it out loud!”
Like Trump, Taylor Swift has a long history of using her platform as the most powerful figure in her field to litigate grievances against anyone who’s ever slighted her. These have included famous diss tracks against ex boyfriends and former friends. On her most recent album, the divisive The Life of a Showgirl, the song “Actually Romantic” is a diss track mocking singer Charli XCX as a coke fiend.
(Charli’s offense was expressing insecurity about Swift dating the lead singer of The 1975, Matty Healy, while Charli was dating the band’s drummer, Joe Daniel, on the song “Sympathy Is a Knife” from 2024’s brat.)
Swift has endorsed Trump’s opponent in the 2020 and 2024 elections, which has angered the president, but its clear he has conflicting feelings about the diva. Following Swift’s Kamala Harris endorsement, Trump screamed “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT” on Truth Social and has repeatedly found ways to slam her on social media. However, after Swift’s engagement to Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce, Trump conceded she’s a “terrific person.”
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