Friday’s news cycle began with Kid Rock revealing to Fox News that he, Stephen A. Smith and Bill Maher had an “epic” dinner with President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday night.
Smith wasn’t going to let a news cycle go by without talking about the White House visit to his own properties, as he dedicated an entire 36-minute episode of his show. Straight Shooter with Stephen A. podcast on it.
According to Smith, Trump invited Maher to “bring anyone he wanted, even one of his crazy left-wing friends,” and Maher extended the invitation to Smith. Trump questioned whether Smith would show up, Smith said, but he “immediately accepted that invitation.”
Smith outlined the various reasons why he felt compelled to attend. Above all, Smith wanted to express his opinions about Trump “face to face, man to man.” Last June, Smith objected to Trump’s participation in the NBA Finals, and Trump insulted Smith’s IQ.
Smith also detailed his cordial relationship with Trump before entering the political arena, including his involvement in Trump’s failed bid to buy the Buffalo Bills in 2014, which Smith has repeatedly cited as the impetus for Trump’s presidential aspirations.
Smith credited Trump for “certain things,” such as criminal justice reform and funding for HBCUs, and noted that his passion for HBCUs led him to accept the White House invitation.
We had to have a conversation! https://t.co/UH4qXD8QLl
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) October 17, 2026
“Essentially, this represents what I consider to be a very important evening,” Smith said. “We were there for over four hours at the White House, and Donald Trump didn’t shy away from any questions. He answered every question. He was very, very defiant about any criticism that was directed at him, or any disagreement. But as Kid Rock said on Fox News Friday morning and explained, it was a pleasant meeting. It was respectful.”
Smith didn’t give a completely optimistic review of Trump, although he said Trump “couldn’t have been nicer” or “more hospitable,” and noted, “(Trump) couldn’t have been more complimentary, even to someone whose abilities he just questioned weeks ago.” Elsewhere, he painted a portrait of a man with a “relatively dismissive attitude” toward the economy, inflation and the realities of American conflict, while claiming to be “the greatest president in American history.”
“The closest I ever came to talking to someone like that was when I talked to Don King, the famous boxing promoter, years ago,” Smith said. “No one had an answer for everything like this man had an answer for everything. That was Trump.”
Smith asked Maher to reveal what Maher and Trump specifically discussed — “they argued there for hours about things they didn’t agree on” — but Smith revealed that he confronted Trump about Black unemployment, particularly at the federal level, at DEI and at HBCUs.
Smith went over the nuances of Trump’s federal funding for HBCUs versus the Trump administration undermining private sector funding, to which Trump told Smith he would “look into that” and “may call” Smith.
“I’m not trying to get involved at that level; I want him to do it,” Smith said. “I don’t want to create the kind of noise that would distract us from the ultimate goal, because the ultimate goal is to help each other as much as possible.”
Later, Smith explained why nothing, not even Kid Rock, can stop him from standing up for HBCUs and his community:
“Whenever I see HBCUs struggling, I’ll do what I can to help them. It’s as simple as that. If that means going to the White House and talking to the President of the United States, assuming I’m invited to do that, I’ll do it. If that means shaking his hand and being respectful, even though I’m going to do it anyway because I’m going to respect the office, I’ll do it anyway.
“I don’t know anything about Kid Rock other than the fact that he’s very close to the president and that he’s a musician. I’ve heard things about him that aren’t flattering. That the black community doesn’t feel, that non-conservatives don’t feel about him. I’ve heard about race. I’ve heard Confederate flags raised. Got it. I haven’t seen it, I haven’t experienced it, but I’m here to tell you say, in an effort to do what I can to help my community, this wouldn’t have stopped me from going to the White House if I had known.
“I also know, you know what, that this is the guy that Kevin Hart was talking about when he had a Mount Rushmore list of people who can’t stand black people, which for some reason he had the nerve to put me on. But that’s neither here nor there. Kevin Hart is great people.
“It’s a bigger topic here, and it’s a bigger thing to talk about because we can’t escape it. And we’re not going to try anymore. There are questions and problems that need to be resolved. And this idea that you can solve these problems and take steps – just a few inches – towards solving them by not talking to each other? By not trying to have a conversation? That’s stupid. It’s childish, and I’m not going to not do that.”
Nothing Smith said about his meeting with Trump was really surprising, given Smith’s turn toward political pundit. Sean Hannity, his longtime friend, appeared on his show earlier this month. But it’s an extension of what has become one of the main criticisms leveled at Smith.
In August, the National Association of Black Journalists named Smith as the recipient of its “Thumbs Down” award, which Smith vehemently refuted, and said Smith had “established a recurring public pattern of derogatory comments directed at prominent black women in politics, sports and the media.”
The following month, Cari Champion and Jemele Hill hosted Smith on their Flagrant and Funny podcast for a multi-faceted, hour-long conversation. Champion and Hill spoke about why black women are disappointed with his recent behavior. They also confronted Smith for his regular appearance on Fox News and for featuring Ben Shapiro and Megyn Kelly on his show.
“When I sometimes see you constantly around people who reject our humanity, it messes with my mind. And I just wonder why? Just why?” asked Hill.
Smith’s response to Hill partly reflected his explanation of his meeting with Trump at the White House, as he cited his journalistic duty to have them recorded and let the public judge from there, as well as his motivation to enter these spaces to help his community.
“I’m sitting here, and I’m talking about the issues, and I’m also putting the Democratic Party on alert (to) stop taking us for granted,” Smith said. Flagrant and funny.
Smith shared that he and Maher received an invitation to return to the White House. So it looks like Smith’s controversial political conversations aren’t stopping anytime soon.
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