Donald Trump Fires Off Insult After Insult During Hour-Long Rampage, Until One Brutal Moment Leaves the Room Squirming — Then He Goes Home and Keeps Swinging
Donald Trump stood in front of a room full of journalists on Friday night, but instead of giving a light-hearted and funny speech, he spent more than an hour complaining, insulting people and bringing up old arguments. Many people expected the event to include jokes and humour, but his speech quickly became a series of attacks on his political opponents, television personalities and celebrities.
The president was the main speaker at the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, which took place at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C. The hotel was previously known as the Trump International Hotel before changing ownership.
Trump began by joking about whether the evening was meant to be serious or funny, but many people felt he never found the right balance. He made comments about the appearance of reporters, joked about the large chandeliers in the ballroom and even made fun of the dinner menu. At one point, he joked that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had personally run over the cow that was served as beef tenderloin.
One of the most talked-about parts of the evening came when Trump turned his attention to late-night television hosts. He claimed that Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert were “not funny” and said their agents deserved more credit than they did. He also said they had “no talent,” despite all three spending many years hosting some of America’s biggest late-night television shows.
Trump’s criticism follows years of public clashes with the hosts. Jimmy Kimmel has often mocked Trump over his health, family life and White House plans. Stephen Colbert became one of Trump’s regular targets before CBS cancelled The Late Show earlier this year, something Trump has celebrated several times while predicting that Kimmel and Fallon could also lose their shows. Although Jimmy Fallon has mostly stayed away from political comedy in recent years, Trump still criticised him, saying that even Fallon’s occasional jokes about him had crossed the line.
The president also brought back his long-running feud with comedian Rosie O’Donnell. He joked that she wanted to attend the dinner “to honour me” before adding that “nobody wants her back.” The comment echoed last year’s controversy when Trump suggested taking away O’Donnell’s American citizenship after she moved to Ireland, even though a president does not have the legal power to do that.
Trump: Jimmy Kimmel. Jimmy Fallon. They're terrible. Stephen Colbert. These are people without talent. You know who has talent, their agents getting them the money they get. They have no talent. But they are not comedians. They are angry, they are sick people pic.twitter.com/UApzzZXlj2
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 25, 2026
His attacks did not stop there. Trump once again criticised California Senator Adam Schiff, calling him “Shifty Schiff,” a nickname he has used for years. He also made jokes about Schiff’s appearance, which received only a small amount of laughter from the audience. Trump then aimed fresh comments at New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Representative Jerry Nadler. He also compared the bruised faces of UFC fighters to the faces of celebrities including Bette Midler, Jane Fonda and Bruce Springsteen.
Throughout the speech, many journalists in the audience appeared uncomfortable. Television cameras often showed people sitting quietly with serious expressions, while only a few scattered laughs could be heard after some of Trump’s jokes. The atmosphere only became noticeably more positive when Trump introduced the evening’s entertainment, mentalist Oz Pearlman, who received the loudest applause of the night.
Towards the end of his speech, Trump put on a “Trump 2028” hat. The reaction in the room was mixed. Some people applauded, others laughed, while many simply watched without reacting.
The criticism continued after the dinner had ended. Later that night, Trump posted several AI-generated images on his Truth Social platform. One image showed Bruce Springsteen and Chris Christie performing together under a banner reading “Bored In The USA,” a play on Springsteen’s famous album title. Another showed Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert sitting as panhandlers beneath a sign saying “Late Night Over.” A third image targeted Rosie O’Donnell and her supporters by suggesting they suffered from what Trump called “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” using an Irish setting to reference her move abroad.
Many people on social media reacted negatively to both the speech and the online posts. One Facebook user described the evening as “an embarrassment to our nation.” Another said Trump claimed he was funnier than professional comedians but believed he had proved the opposite. A third argued that the journalists should have stood up together and walked out, saying Trump enjoys having their attention. Another commenter said the evening showed that “being a bully” had become a form of humour for some of Trump’s supporters.
Adding to the attention surrounding the event, cameras later appeared to show Trump briefly nodding off while watching Oz Pearlman’s performance. The moment quickly spread across social media, becoming another widely shared clip from an evening that was already filled with controversy and debate.
