Astonishing turn around for Bill Maher after White House decried that him winning prestigious Kennedy prize was 'fake news'

Bill Maher is set to be named the Mark Twain Prize recipient this week, despite the White House previously calling the report 'literally FAKE NEWS.'

Reports that the late-night host would receive the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center in June were first reported by The Atlantic last week, with the Trump administration strongly pushing back.

'This is fake news. Bill Maher will NOT be getting this award,' White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told the outlet in a statement.

It has since been revealed that Maher will be named the award's winner in an announcement slated for Thursday, an insider told Politico Washington reporter Daniel Lippman.

'Anonymous sources with half-baked information leaked to The Atlantic before conversations were finalized,' the source said.

'There was nothing to confirm at the time and it is not appropriate to get ahead of any settled agreement between multiple parties involved.'

The source, someone familiar with the award discussions, spoke to the outlet on condition of anonymity about the private process behind what led to the decision.

The Kennedy Center is expected to officially announce late Thursday morning that Maher will be the recipient of the award this summer in a show to be broadcast by Netflix. 

The ceremony, one of the Kennedy Center's two major broadcast events alongside the Kennedy Center Honors, will also mark the final marquee honor before a planned two-year renovation ordered by the president. 

In an embargoed statement ahead of the announcement, Maher said, 'Thank you to people: I just had the award explained to me, and apparently it's like an Emmy, except I win,' the outlet reported.

'I'd just like to say that it is indeed humbling to get anything named for a man who's been thrown out of as many school libraries as Mark Twain,' he jokingly added.

Politico's report comes just a week after The Atlantic revealed that two people familiar with the selection said Maher had been chosen for this year's Mark Twain Prize, with an announcement expected soon.

A third source said that while Maher had not yet been officially announced, he had already been offered the award, adding that Trump was reportedly supportive of the decision.    

Shortly after report was published, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said in a post on X that the claim was 'literally FAKE NEWS.' 

The White House also contacted the Kennedy Center to make clear that the comedian would not receive the prize, with Leavitt reiterating to The Atlantic that their reporting was fake.  

Any decision involving the president remained at risk of reversal until it was publicly announced. A Kennedy Center staffer later said the decision to honor Maher had been made, then reversed. 

Trump took control of the Kennedy Center last February, replacing its trustees with loyalists and later telling them about his desire to personally select the Honors recipients. 

'In the past, I mean, these are radical left lunatics that have been chosen,' Trump said about previous Kennedy Center Honors at a 2025 board meeting, according to The Washington Post. 'I didn't like it. I couldn't watch it. And the host was always terrible.'

'We'll go slightly more conservative, if you don't mind, with some of the people,' he added, referring to future honorees.

'There are people out there that would not be considered that are much bigger stars than the ones that were being honored.' 

The Kennedy Center was then renamed to 'The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.' 

Maher, meanwhile, is a prominent Trump critic, with a deeply complicated relationship with the president. 

Despite frequently criticizing Trump and his administration during his presidency, Maher was invited last year to a White House dinner in a meeting arranged by singer Kid Rock, according to The Washington Post.  

Maher described Trump as 'gracious and measured' during the dinner, adding on his HBO show Real Time that the president was willing to 'listen and accept me as a possible friend.'

But just last month, Trump lashed out at Maher in a harsh Truth Social post: 'Sometimes in life you waste time! TV Host Bill Maher asked to have dinner with me through one of his friends, also a friend of mine, and I agreed.'

'He was extremely nervous, had ZERO confidence in himself and, to soothe his nerves, immediately, within seconds, asked for a 'Vodka Tonic,' he added.

He went on to complain that Maher had not shown enough support for his administration since their dinner.

'It was a total waste of time for me to have this jerk at the White House,' he wrote.

'Bill Maher is a highly overrated LIGHTWEIGHT, and Republicans should stop using him to show how the Left is coming over our way - Our Base, the Greatest of All Time, laughs at your weakness when you do it!'

Their feud was dubbed the 'Valentine's Day Breakup,' with Trump still sharing links to articles about it just weeks ago. 

On the same day as Trump's social media rant, Maher responded on his show, saying he doesn't suffer from 'Trump Derangement Syndrome,' but that the president suffers from 'Bill Maher Derangement Syndrome.' 

He quickly took aim at certain aspects of the Trump’ administration - targeting ICE arrests, backing autocratic regimes and the personal financial gains of the president and his family. 

'You texted me soon after the dinner, complaining that I was still part of the "lunatic left" and that you should have won a Nobel Prize for ending wars,' the host said, revealing unknown details surrounding their notorious meeting.

'I texted back, "Yeah, and I should have won 20 Emmys,"' he added.

Maher dissected Trump’s massive post aimed at him, line by line, poking holes in claims that he was nervous and demanded a drink upon arrival. 

'I was there almost three hours. And it wasn’t vodka, it was a margarita. I was having a good time. So were you, Don, because we were talking like real humans, not like that crazy act you put on in public,' Maher said.

Maher highlighted moments where he had backed the president and said that he has to take some responsibility himself for 'making people crazy.'

'You do things that are racist, misogynistic, anti-democratic, and corrupt,' he said, explaining that his critiques are meant to appeal to the better side of Trump, which he witnessed at dinner.

'As long as I think there’s even a spark of a possibility of bringing that guy out more, I will not consider the dinner a "waste of time," even as I now see we’re back to name-calling,' Maher said. 

He ended his public response with a quote said by Democratic Rep. Jon Ossoff during a recent speech about Trump's administration: 'They're the elites they pretend to hate.' 

'Free advice: If the Democrats ever learn to weaponize that message, your MAGA movement is in big trouble,' Maher said.