The only thing worse than making a joke that no one laughs at is having to then explain the joke in order to show why it’s so funny. But really, no one wants to deal with either of those two situations, especially after watching Donald Trump make such a flub in real time at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner part deux, months after the April 2026 event ended early due to an alleged gunman on the property.
The re-do of the event that was held at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C. featured Trump making remarks about journalists, the state of the country, and everything in between. Including how many times he has run for president and how many times he plans to, but we don’t have to get into that right now. One big takeaway for some was a moment when Trump made a poor joke and almost no one laughed. Then, he tried to roast himself to appear self-debracating and it was kind of a big uncomfy mess.
Donald Trump’s jokes fell a little flat.
This joke went down like a lead balloon:
— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) July 25, 2026
TRUMP: "The other day a senator I knew got a text from his wife. She said, 'When you get home, I want to have you immediately come up the stairs and make love to me.' And he said, 'I can't do both.' You know? (Laughs alone).
In other… pic.twitter.com/fmsYTsHeHj
During his White House Correspondents’ Dinner speech, Trump made a joke about an older senator he knows and a story about the senator sleeping with his wife. Why the sitting president would need to make a joke like that for the American people to see and hear is already a little confusing, to be honest.
“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 shared in his speech The punchline?. “And he said, I can’t do both.”
After there were only a few scattered laughs, Trump continued, “Does anybody get that one? I thought that was actually pretty good.”
Trump further explained, “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?”
He also admitted that the joke was “the only good one” in the “stupid speech” written for him.
He also joked about running for president again.
President Trump on running for fourth term: "I won three times, now I'm going to do it again." pic.twitter.com/e5hRBxMG5z
— CSPAN (@cspan) July 25, 2026
Trump might have lived several lives, making himself a career as a businessman, reality TV star, and politician. But a comedian? Yeah, it’s probably a good thing he didn’t try to go that route. Though his “jokes” during speeches and press meetings might tell you he had the aspirations there at some point.
During his speech at the dinner, Trump also seemingly joked about running for office in 2028, though he is Constitutionally unable to become the president a third time. Still, it’s a fear that many have, and some took his joke to be more of a way to gauge responses.
“Once again ‘joking’ about Trump 2028,” someone commented on a Reddit post about it. “Will be interesting to see how that plays out in reality.”
Another person added, “He’s floating it around because he knows who it excites and who it pisses off. He’s going to talk about it during the midterms because he won’t like being the center of attention.”
Trump rarely makes people genuinely laugh at his jokes.
Again, Trump is not a comedian, so whenever he makes jokes, either at his own expense or at the expense of others, it’s not as if he gets a crowd of people guffawing every time. Even when Trump makes fun of himself, he doesn’t get big laughs. And, some critics have shared on social media, many of Trump’s jokes involve bullying other people, including those in politics and those who are unable to advocate for themselves.
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