Stephen A. Smith presses Trump on HBCU funding during a four-hour visit

Bill Maher brought him along, Kid Rock was there too, and Smith says the tour included an autopen hanging where Joe Biden's portrait would be.

Channel: Stephen A. Smith Story of October 17, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 480,660 views a day, 11 times a normal first day on this channel (42,654).

Inside My Meeting With Trump At The White House

Stephen A. Smith arrived at the White House as Bill Maher's plus-one. He says he left having asked President Donald Trump a direct question about historically Black colleges and universities.

In "Inside My Meeting With Trump At The White House," Smith recounts an October 15 visit that the description puts at four and a half hours. Maher had been invited back and asked Smith to come along. Kid Rock was waiting inside, and Trump led them on an extensive tour. Smith's favorite detail from it: a gallery of presidential portraits with one gap, where Biden's picture is replaced by a photo of an autopen. "I chided the President, I said, 'that's pretty damn cruel, man,'" Smith says. Trump, he reports, found it funny.

The two men go back further than politics. Smith remembers a 2014 conversation, when Trump was trying to buy the Buffalo Bills, that ended with Trump telling him: "I'm gonna run for president." This time, Smith compares the president's style to the boxing promoter Don King.

The agenda was Smith's own. He describes HBCUs that struggle to cover basic needs and keep up their buildings, and he ties that to the rollback of DEI programs and to Black unemployment. "Mr. President, what you gonna do about that?" he says he asked. Trump's answer, as Smith tells it: "I got to look into that. That's a good point."

Smith, who calls himself a registered independent, spends much of the episode explaining why he went despite the criticism. He argues that a seat across from sitting leaders is how minority institutions get heard, and he describes Trump and Maher arguing through their disagreements for hours without rancor. The final stretch turns to the midterms, laying out what a president keeps and loses if his party holds the Senate but drops the House.

The episode reached about 191,000 views in its first six hours. In that time, its comment section had already grown to more than five times the size of a usual full first day. Many viewers write about the civility of the meeting itself. The visit also supplied three shorter uploads the next day.

Published on Trari

Share this story

A ready picture for an Instagram story or a WhatsApp status.

Share the pictureSend the link

×Share the picture

Where next?

More from Stephen A. SmithVideo taking off 11x its usual first dayStephen A. Smith answers Hughley with his White House agendaHis response moves from personal criticism to HBCU funding, corporate DEI commitments and student-athlete rights.Channel: Stephen A. Smith · Story of October 23, 2026 Also in Political commentators and debateVideo taking off 11x its usual first dayNapolitano's intelligence roundtable asks who controls the CIALarry Johnson and John Kiriakou connect presidential authority, sanctions and the risks of escalation with Iran in a fast-starting weekly wrap.Channel: Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom · Story of October 24, 2026 A different discovery todayVideo people are talking about 11x its usual commentsZelenskyy tells Steven Bartlett why he needed "ammunition, not a ride"In a nearly two-hour conversation, Ukraine's president moves from sleepless nights and grieving parents to Bucha, Paddington Bear and the morning the invasion …Channel: The Diary Of A CEO · Story of October 24, 2026

Or follow us on Telegram

Is this your channel?For the channel's owners and team: a ready picture, text and badge for your audience

Share the story with your audience. Everything is ready:

For a community post or your channel's description

Stephen A. Smith presses Trump on HBCU funding during a four-hour visit The full story on Trari: https://trari.com/en/story/mrstephenasmith-12003/?from=kit

Copy the text

For your website

You may use the picture, the badge, and link it to this story.

The numbers

Six hours in, this episode had already passed a typical full first day for the channel's regular videos several times over.

the video's first day

usual first day here

42,654

this video

480,660

subscribers

1,410,000

no significant change in the last 7 days

total views

383,384,751

views per day

65,115

typical day: 100,308

the video

views

190,738

likes

6,595

comments

1,468

days online

1

subscribers: this channel and similar channels

Indisputable with Dr. Ras…

1,440,000

friendlyjordies

1,430,000

Stephen A. Smith

1,410,000

The Damage Report

1,380,000

The Ring of Fire

1,360,000

Keith Edwards

1,360,000

As of October 17, 2026 · Data source: Trari Social News, Trari Traffic Trends and Ranking Platform, Google YouTube

Subscriber, view, like and comment counts are YouTube's. Rates, usual days, rankings, comparisons and categories are Trari's own calculations.