White House dinner becomes Trump roast

The Donald looked unhappy that he decided to come to the White House Correspondents' Dinner

If timing was Donald Trump’s forte, he most likely would have waited until after the White House Correspondents’ Dinner this past weekend to launch his one-man crusade against President Obama. But because it apparently isn’t, he ended up being the butt of most of the jokes usually reserved for political figures.

The president, fellow politicians, members of the media and celebrities gather every year to roast Washington’s elite (C-SPAN provides TV coverage), and members of both parties always take their share of jabs. But Trump himself — who for some odd reason accepted an invitation to attend this year’s affair — was the one who took the brunt of the jokes.

For those living under a rock, Trump has toyed with the idea of running as a GOP candidate for the country’s highest office in 2012, and he chose to make the topic of Obama’s birth location the focus of his recent public rants. But when the president finally relented and had the state of Hawaii release his birth certificate last week, it not only took the steam out of Trump’s sails but it made him a gigantic target going into Saturday’s dinner.

The president’s speech was prefaced by a video playing the song “I Am a Real American,” which was accompanied by images of his birth certificate and all-American pictures of an eagle, Mount Rushmore, and Uncle Sam, as well as pop culture icons like Rocky, Evel Knievel, Michael Jordan and Hulk Hogan.

His first words — “My fellow Americans…” — drew a huge roar of laughter as C-SPAN’s camera zoomed in on Trump for the first of what would be many close-ups over the course of the evening. He then said he had footage of his actual birth before showing a clip from the movie The Lion King.

“Donald Trump is here tonight,” Obama later went on to say. “I know that he’s taken some flack lately, but nobody is happier to put this birth certificate matter to rest than The Donald. And that’s because he can finally get back to focusing on issues that matter, like did we fake the moon landing, what really happened in Roswell, and where are [deceased rappers] Biggie and Tupac.”

Host Seth Meyers of Saturday Night Live fame would follow the president with many Trump insults of his own — including several jokes about his infamous hair — but it was the Commander in Chief who drew the loudest applause when he took a shot at a recent episode of Trump’s NBC reality show Celebrity Apprentice.

“You, Mr. Trump, recognized that the real problem was a lack of leadership,” he said, specifically mentioning a challenge revolving around an Omaha Steaks commercial. “So, ultimately, you didn’t blame Lil Jon or Meat Loaf, you fired Gary Busey. And these are the kind of decisions that would keep me up at night. Well handled, sir, well handled.”