Bill Maher blasts Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin for accusing him of falling into Trump's 'trap'

WASHINGTON, DC: Bill Maher got involved in an argument with Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin after being accused of "falling into the trap" of President Donald Trump as he met him at the White House on March 31.

During the Friday, April 11 episode of 'Real Time’, the comedian, who had been critical of Trump in the past, said he had a "gracious and measured" dinner with the 78-year-old commander-in-chief, Kid Rock, and UFC CEO Dana White.

He shared, "You can hate me for it, but I'm not a liar. Trump was gracious and measured, and why he isn't that in other settings, I don't know," as per USA Today.

"And I can't answer, and it's not my place to answer. I'm just telling you what I saw, and I wasn't high," the late-night host added. 

Josh Rogin insists he's concerned about Donald Trump's motivation and not Bill Maher's

But Bill Maher’s panel discussion with Piers Morgan and Josh Rogin turned dramatic as the Washington Post journalist called him out for "playing the game of proximity is principle," as reported by HuffPost.

"I think you've fallen into the trap; I think I represent 99 percent of the internet when I say this. What people are worried about is not your motivation; we believe you. We love you, Bill," Rogin said. 

The journalist further stressed that he’s "not questioning your motivation, I'm questioning Trump's... If we can say that you went there in good faith, but maybe, just maybe, he wasn't there in good faith."

"I mean, you sold him on the Iran deal, and he took it in? I mean, give me a break, okay. So, the idea here is that your motivation is sound, but what's the impact?" Rogin questioned. 

He, however, insisted that "people love" Maher, and that he is also a fan of him.

Bill Maher asks Josh Rogin not to 'patronize' him

But the comedian was not impressed as he said, "You don’t have to patronize me, dude. I don’t know you. I’ve never met you."

"Not everybody has to like it. That’s what we said. There are people who didn’t want it to happen at all. You sound like one of them, it’s OK," Maher asserted.

He also sarcastically told Rogin during the episode, "The fact that you began your little rant with ‘the internet’, that tells me everything. You take your cues from the internet. Good luck."

But Rogin was not the one to easily step back, as he added, "I agree with the principle of engagement. I’m just saying from [Trump’s] perspective… all Americans know that for him this was a PR stunt, and in his view you were a prop in that PR stunt."