Longtime Donald Trump critic Bill Maher has paid the president his highest compliment to date, following a meeting with him last week at the White House. 

Maher, who routinely mocks and berates Trump on his weekly show, made a striking assessment describing him as a political force of nature.

'Trump is one of the most effective politicians,' Maher stated during a sit-down with NewsNation host Chris Cuomo on his Club Random podcast. 'Whatever you think of the policy and him as a person… just as a politician.'

For Maher who has consistently roasted Trump on his HBO show Real Time for nearly a decade, it was a rare acknowledgment of Trump's raw political instinct and his singular hold on the American electorate.

Maher recalled two specific moments that forced even him, an avowed Trump skeptic, to stand back and applaud the sheer audacity of the president.

The first involved Trump's handling of the Taliban during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

'When he did that thing where the guy came in from the Taliban and he said, "This is an aerial picture of your house. If during our withdrawal one American is hurt, just know I know where you live,"' Maher said. 

'I was like, oh can we just play the music now? Because I don't care it's Donald Trump and he's the worst person ever, blah, blah, blah - I f***ing love that!'

The second thing Maher paid Trump credit for, was for his street-level bravado.

'One time they were doing something, something was going on and he said, "You know what? When you come after New York, you got to go through me." It's like, oh - hometown boy,' Maher added.

Although it was far from an endorsement, Maher appeared to acknowledge Trump's stage presence that he carried in ways his opponents can't touch.

'You know, he has those moments that no other politician has. And the Democrats have to find that guy,' Maher said bluntly. 'But let's be real - they've been searching for years and they're still coming up empty.'

In recent times Maher has built a reputation for attacking 'woke' liberalism and cancel culture just as fiercely as he criticizes MAGA politics. 

In his critique, he slammed Democrats for failing to understand what actually moves voters.

'They always say message. "They didn't hear our message," Maher mocked. 'Yeah, first of all they did - and they don't like it. Second, they don't give a s***. It's not about the message. Trump changes his message every day and it doesn't matter.'

According to Maher, Trump's real political genius lies in his primal appeal.