US4 min(s) read
Published 09:19 25 Jul 2026 GMT
Trump met with silence after making sex joke at White House Correspondents' Dinner
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President Donald Trump was met with complete silence after telling a sex joke during his speech at the rescheduled White House Correspondents' Dinner.
The annual event finally took place on Friday (July 24), three months after the original dinner was cut short by a shooting at the Washington Hilton.
The 80-year-old president's hour-long speech mixed calls for unity with attacks on political rivals and members of the media, but one moment in particular left the room noticeably quiet.
Trump's joke falls flat
Trump shared a joke about an ageing senator while discussing term limits for members of Congress.
He told the audience that a senator received a text from his wife saying: "When you get home, I want you to immediately come up the stairs and make love to me."
The president then delivered the punchline, saying the senator replied: "I can't do both."
The room remained silent.
Trump then explained the joke himself.
"Can't get up on the stairs and make love," he said while pulling a face. "Does anybody get that?"
After realizing the joke had failed to land, the president laughed it off.
"That was the only thing I thought was good in this whole frickin' stupid speech they wrote," he said. "That was the only good one and that went down with not exactly great laughter."
Trump's speech was with mixed unity and political insults
Trump opened his speech by reflecting on the April dinner, which was interrupted after suspected gunman Cole Allen allegedly opened fire before the evening's programme began.
"As I said three months ago, the show must go on," he said. "Tonight we come back together to answer that heinous attack with unwavering resolve," he added, saying the event showed that "in America we do not yield to political violence."
He also revealed that his original speech had been much more aggressive.
"I was so psyched. I was going to rip people, and I don't know. Just something changed," he said. "It's really for the better, but I just wouldn't want to do that. But we'll do a little ripping if you don't mind."
Although Trump applauded members of the press, telling attendees: "I have tremendous respect for the people in this room," he also added: "Sometimes I don't feel you treat me fair."
"Maybe you do. I don't know. I don't feel that, but sometimes you treat me very fairly, and I have a lot of respect for your profession," he said.
He also took aim at several political opponents and journalists by name before closing the event by pulling out a red "Trump 2028" hat and joking that he would run for another presidential term, despite the Constitution barring a third term.
The president also thanked guests for attending despite the events of April.
"Most of us went through a period of trauma from just a short while ago, and you know, some people said they wanted to come, but they were afraid to come, and you people weren't afraid to come," he said.
The rescheduled dinner was held at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C., rather than the Washington Hilton, where the April event descended into chaos.
Secret Service officer Victor Gonzales was shot during the attack but was protected by his ballistic vest and continued responding to the threat.
Gonzales and the Washington Hilton staff received the White House Correspondents' Association's President's Award for Exceptional Service during Friday's ceremony.
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