Bill Maher, the host of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, was one of the more surprising voices to back the Donald Trump administration when the U.S. launched its first strikes on Iran in February 2026. Six weeks later, he is making it clear that his support has limits, and that he now hopes the president walks away from the conflict entirely.
When the strikes first began, Maher was notably supportive. He said he believed Iran was weeks away from having 11 nuclear bombs, citing claims made by Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Special Envoy for the Middle East. According to Huffpost, he pushed back against critics of the war, including Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens, saying he would stand with Trump on the matter.
That enthusiasm has clearly faded. On the April 11 episode of Real Time, Maher said “I don’t hate it” was how he felt when the strikes began, but that six weeks of fighting had changed his view. He said the original goal seemed achievable. But Iran held its ground, revealed stronger defenses than expected, and closed the Strait of Hormuz. “We did it, and it didn’t work,” Maher said on the show. He then added that he hoped Trump would walk away.
Maher’s shift reflects a broader frustration with how the war has played out
The Strait of Hormuz closure has had serious effects on the global economy. Oil prices shot up to as high as $118 per barrel, and the average price of a gallon of gas in the U.S. passed the $4 mark by the end of March. Inflation rose by its largest margin in nearly four years in March, with energy costs climbing 10.9 percent. Gasoline prices rose 21.2 percent and fuel oil jumped 30.7 percent that month.
Maher was not alone in feeling that the early optimism around the strikes did not age well. What started as a confident push to knock out Iran’s nuclear program and shake up its government has turned into a drawn-out standoff with real economic pain for ordinary people.
The closure of the strait cut off a route that carries around a fifth of the world’s daily oil supply, and the ripple effects were felt quickly at gas stations and grocery stores across the U.S. For many, the gap between what the administration promised and what actually happened has been hard to ignore.
A two-week ceasefire was later announced between the U.S. and Iran. Some ships have started passing through the strait again, but Iran has been charging vessels a toll worth the cryptocurrency equivalent of $1 per barrel of oil on board, reports The Hill. Trump initially floated the idea of a joint venture on those tolls, then quickly turned around and condemned the fees on Truth Social, posting that if Iran was charging tankers, they had better stop.
Maher addressed the ceasefire on the same episode, joking that the U.S. and Iran had come to a mutual understanding where the U.S. agreed to stop bombing and Iran agreed to stop being bombed. He said the situation was one of saving face, with both sides pretending the strait was open when it was not fully operational. As of now, JD Vance traveled to Pakistan to work on an Iran deal, though he returned without reaching one, leaving the next steps uncertain.
Meanwhile, Trump spent the weekend posting on social media rather than engaging with the diplomatic effort, which did little to move things forward. Whether Trump will escalate, negotiate, or step back entirely remains unclear. But Maher, for his part, is clearly no longer in the camp that thinks this war was ever going to end the way the administration hoped.
Published: Apr 15, 2026 09:30 am