Why is President Donald Trump raging at comic and pundit Bill Maher in the middle of an actual war? Because Maher has promised to deliver a new barrage in their feud — and it hits in a few hours.

The United States is in the middle of a war with Iran that has claimed the lives of at least six American servicemembers — with Trump reportedly telling senators that more will die before the campaign is over.

But on Friday morning, Trump peppered his social media feed with posts attacking Maher.

How we got here is a story that technically goes back years, as Maher has long been a critic of Trump, including a satirical bet lampooning the “Birther” obsession that resulted in a $5 million lawsuit from Trump.

But Maher attempted a “Nixon goes to China” moment by having dinner with Trump at the White House — an event he frequently describes with pride at his own open-mindedness.

Things took another turn on the Feb. 13 edition of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, during which one bit — a comical reading of a Truth Social post — caught Trump’s attention:

Hours later on Saturday morning, Trump lashed out over the bit in an epic-length post on Truth Social in which he accused Maher of peculiar behavior at their dinner. Those attacks were the basis for Trump’s posts this morning.

So, why is Trump lashing out anew, three weeks and one war later?

Maher was off last week, but he spent part of his Feb. 20 monologue this week rebutting Trump — and promised to devote his signature “New Rules” segment to a deeper dive when his show came back after a break:

BILL MAHER: I woke up Saturday morning to a blistering social media text from him. Went on and on. Valentine’s Day, by the way.

He was very mad at me because I didn’t get his joke about how China is gonna make Canada give up hockey. You know, I think we’re going to have to workshop that one for a while.

So he went off on me and said, you know, the dinner we had was a waste of time.

Well, I didn’t think it was.

And then I’m a jerk, and I’m at low ratings, lightweight, and all this sh*t. Because I never stopped criticizing him. I never said I would.

And I know how women feel now. A guy buys you dinner and then expects you to put out. OK? I’m not that guy.

And of course, he accused me of having Trump derangement syndrome.

OK, we’re off next week. The next week our show, I think March 6th, we come back. I’m going to address this at the end. His whole long screed. Yes, and prove that I don’t have Trump derrangement syndrome.

And a lot of other stuff he said that that wasn’t really true, that, you know, I immediately asked for a drink. OK, “he immediately wanted a vodka.”

OK, it was a margarita. It was not a vodka, and it wasn’t immediately. I had a drink before dinner, as people do. He said, I was nervous and scared, no confidence.

Bullsh*t! It’s so funny, because I got so much sh*t from the left for reporting honestly that, in person, he was very different, very nice, very gracious.

And then he says, no, he was scared. I’m like the Democrats with an election. I just can’t win!

The “New Rules” segment typically encompasses the last 15 or so minutes of the show, and is known for featuring some of Maher’s most blistering commentaries. That promise comes due a little over 12 hours after Trump’s posts.

Watch above via HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher.

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