Donald Trump Admits His White House Correspondents' Dinner Speech Was 'Freaking Stupid' After Joke Falls Flat
Donald Trump admitted his White House Correspondents' Dinner speech was 'freaking stupid' after a joke fell flat.
July 25 2026, Updated 11:22 a.m. ET
Donald Trump roasted his own White House Correspondents' Association Dinner speech after one of his jokes was met with awkward silence, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The president admitted the speech was "freaking stupid" as he struggled to win over the crowd during the rescheduled annual event at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C.
Donald Trump's Joke Falls Flat
The president paused his speech to ask the audience, 'Does anybody get that one?'
While arguing in favor of congressional term limits, Trump attempted to make a joke about aging lawmakers by telling a story about an elderly senator.
"The other day, a senator I knew got a text, a great guy, from his wife, and she said, when you get home, I want to have you immediately come up the stairs and make love to me," Trump said. "And he said, I can't do both."
The joke was met with little laughter, prompting Trump to stop and ask the audience, "Does anybody get that one? I thought that was actually pretty good."
The rescheduled White House Correspondents' Dinner was on July 24.
'That Was the Only Good One'
Donald Trump joked that the failed punchline was 'the only good one' in the entire speech.
The president then took aim at his own remarks, joking that the failed punchline was the highlight of the evening.
"That was actually the only thing I thought was good in this whole freaking stupid speech that they wrote," Trump said. "That was the only good one. And that went down with not exactly great laughter."
He continued trying to explain the joke, adding: "In other words, you can't go up the stairs and make love — too old. So we're looking for term limits. Does anybody understand this stuff?"
Assassination Suspect Pleads Not Guilty
Cole Allen has pleaded not guilty to attempted assassination and multiple federal charges.
The White House Correspondents' Association Dinner was originally scheduled for May but was postponed after authorities said 31-year-old Cole Allen allegedly stormed through a security checkpoint and opened fire in an attempt to assassinate Trump.
Allen has pleaded not guilty to attempted assassination of the president, assaulting law enforcement officers, transporting a firearm across state lines to commit a felony and discharging a weapon during a crime of violence. If convicted, he could face life in prison.
Prosecutors allege Allen shot a Secret Service officer in the bulletproof vest before agents tackled and arrested him at the scene.
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Prosecutors Point to Manifesto
Prosecutors say Cole Allen's alleged manifesto shows President Donald Trump was the intended target of the attack.
Federal prosecutors have argued Allen's own writings make his alleged motive clear, pointing to a manifesto in which he listed "Administration officials" as targets and wrote he was "no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes."
Although the document did not name Trump directly, then-U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., Jeanine Pirro said she believed the president was the intended target.
"Clearly, the president is a target. And make no mistake, it is not just the manifesto. It is his actions," Pirro previously said.
She added: "I mean, this guy thought he was Rambo. I mean, he was armed to the teeth."
