Bill Maher accused President Trump of socialism on Friday’s episode of “Real Time” on HBO, spotlighting the federal government’s expanding corporate investments, which now numbers 30 different companies.
“Now that they’re communists, there’s an opening for socialism. And you know who’s filling it? Donald Trump,” Maher said, citing deals in 2025 that saw the U.S. government invest $8.9 billion in Intel stock and Nvidia’s agreement to share 15% of revenues earned from chip sales to China with the government. Maher also brought up Trump’s approval of Nippon Steel’s acquisition of U.S. Steel, which was contingent on the federal government being given power to appoint a board member and veto certain corporate decisions on production. “We have a ‘golden share.’ We basically run their board room now.”
“You know why this is socialism, I think? Because Bernie Sanders agrees with it all. He wants to do it with the AI companies,” Maher continued. (In June, Sen. Sanders (I-Vt.) proposed a sovereign wealth fund financed by a one-time 50% tax on the stock of the largest AI companies.)
Maher’s comparison comes one week after the “Real Time” host spent his monologue criticizing the Democratic Socialists of America and saying his vote would be “in play” if the Democratic Party became too radical.
“The free market is dead. They have decided that the government wants to control 30 different companies. And Intel alone, which was a loser because of Nvidia — they basically own 9.9% of that company. That’s a lot,” added independent journalist Tara Palmeri, a guest on Friday’s episode of “Real Time.” “After they invested in this company, (Trump) then went on to buy stocks in this company, which shot up 200%. He actually made a ton of money on this. His government created a floor on a stock that he owns. It’s crony capitalism too.”
Per May filings by Trump to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, the president engaged in more than 3,700 transactions through the first three months of 2026, including an investment in Nvidia one week before the Commerce Department approved the company’s sale of chips to China. At the time, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told media, “There are no conflicts of interest. President Trump only acts in the best interests of the American public — which is why they overwhelmingly re-elected him to this office, despite years of lies and false accusations against him and his businesses from the fake news media.”
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