Picture it: the president of France calls the president of the United States. And the guy who answers is from Detroit and wrote "Bawitdaba."
That's the story Kid Rock told Bill Maher on Friday night's Real Time, and the clip is everywhere.
https://twitter.com/jaytc53/status/2116395123844276285
The story
Kid Rock, who has golfed with Trump more than once, says Emmanuel Macron rang Trump's phone in the middle of a round. According to Kid Rock, as quoted by Townhall, Trump answered, said, "Hey, I'm here with the great Kid Rock," and handed over the phone.
Kid Rock's opener to the French president, per Townhall: "I'm from the Paris of the Midwest, Detroit."
Then, Kid Rock says, Trump drove off in the golf cart. "He leaves Macron on the phone with Kid Rock," Maher said, per Townhall.
The Vigilant Fox, which posted the clip to more than 500,000 views on X by Saturday morning, reported that Kid Rock had told Maher the story privately before. Maher was still pounding the table laughing.
Where it came from
Kid Rock was on the panel for HBO's Real Time on Oct. 30 with Axios CEO Jim VandeHei, after Maher's interview with Sen. Ted Cruz, according to Variety and LateNighter. The story came after Maher asked what about Trump would surprise people, according to a transcript posted alongside the clip on X.
The booking had a backstory of its own. Kid Rock helped set up Maher's first White House dinner with Trump in 2025 and was at their second dinner on Oct. 15, alongside ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, LateNighter reported. Trump then hit Maher with a record-length post on Truth Social, Variety reported. On the show, Maher said Trump called him drunk. "You were pretty high," Kid Rock replied, per Variety.
Not the only headline from Kid Rock
The golf story was the light moment. Variety reported that Kid Rock also compared Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan, to the 9/11 hijackers, and that Maher fact-checked him on the spot.
Did it happen?
All we have is Kid Rock's word. He didn't say when the round took place, and neither the White House nor the Élysée has commented on the call. Macron does like to get Trump on the phone, though. In 2025, AP reported, Macron called him from a New York sidewalk after Trump's motorcade blocked his way.
For now, the official record on Franco-American relations says nothing about a golf cart.
Photo: Official White House Photo by Molly Riley, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
