What was once supposedly deemed a legendary bromance between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, with the latter even being referred to as the “First Buddy,” is now collapsing into an epic fail. Bill Maher advantageously used the Trump-Musk unravelling friendship instance to pack in as many pop culture references during the latest episode of his HBO series Real Time as possible.
Days after stepping down from his post as the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) head, the billionaire Tesla boss appeared to flip the conversation tied to his allegiance to the Republican politician. Using his social media platform, the tech titan ignited an unprecedented feud over “One Big, Beautiful Bill.” And so began a simmering back-and-forth between the duo.
Bill Maher stuffs heavy pop culture references: Trump-Musk rift
Bill Maher used the opportunity to poke fun at the development, thanking his audience for “putting on a brave face because I know you’re all probably upset” over “what happened with Elon and Donald Trump.” Thinking of the Trump, Elon rift, the comedian couldn’t help but compare the conflict to the cinematic monsterverse showdown between Godzilla and King Kong.
“When you think about it, the richest man in the world and the most powerful man in the world, it’s like Godzilla vs King Kong, if Godzilla was on ketamine and King Kong had a comb over,” he said during Friday’s Real Time episode.
Eventually drawing parallels between the political bromance and ex-real-life Hollywood romances, the TV host name-dropped old relationships that once owned showbiz: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as Brangelina, and Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez as Bennifer. Maher couldn’t hold himself back from comparing Trump and Musk to these once-romantic pairs, saying that they were “so close, it was like Brangelina or Bennifer.”
Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni feud enters Trump and Musk’s world
Elon Musk’s bombshell claim that Donald Trump was in the Epstein Files also made into Bill Maher’s address. It led him to compare what had unfolded over the week with the seemingly perennial seething war of words between It Ends With Us co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. Alluding to the similarly ongoing Hollywood feud, the Real Time host said, “And now this is just a war that is going to back and forth, and back and forth, and the stakes are so high because the winner faces Blake Lively.”
Summing up Trump-Musk’s fractured bromance and the duo’s trajectory, Maher also added at one point, “What put it over the edge is that, you know, Elon came in there to reduce the government bloat and all that stuff, and then they have this Big Beautiful Bill that’s nothing but government bloat, which Elon tweeted out.”
“He said it was a disgusting abomination, and then Trump said, ‘Well, he has Trump derangement syndrome,’ and then Elon said, ‘Well, your tariffs are gonna cause an erection — a recession,’ is what I meant to say.”