Trump Reportedly Bombed His Speech at Closed-Door Black Tie DC Dinner: ‘Jokes Landed With a Thud’

(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

President Donald Trump’s jokes at an elite closed-door Washington, D.C., event bombed so badly that “the room fell silent repeatedly,” The Washington Post reported Sunday.

The awkwardness happened Saturday night at the Alfalfa Club dinner, an invitation-only event for some 200 of the rich and powerful who gather together each year on Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s birthday.

According to The Post, it was the first time Trump addressed the club, “speaking before a room whose membership includes such foes as JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon (whose bank he is suing), David Rubenstein (whom he fired as head of the Kennedy Center) and Jerome H. Powell (the outgoing Fed chairman whose role he is investigating).”

An anonymous source told The Post that some of Trump’s jokes “landed with a thud, and the room fell silent repeatedly.”

Trump began his remarks by declaring, “So many people in the room I hate. Most of you I like,” Trump said, before adding, “Who in the hell thought this was going to happen?”

Trump then warned the crowd that he might “cut the speech short” so he could watch “the invasion of Greenland,” before revealing that he was just joking.

“We’re not going to invade Greenland. We’re going to buy it,” Trump said, according to the report. “It’s never been my intention to make Greenland the 51st state. I want to make Canada the 51st state. Greenland will be the 52nd state. Venezuela can be 53rd.”

The report continued:

Trump dropped several off-color comments about his political adversaries, according to attendees. He described calling Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) “Pocahontas” in reference to her claims of Native American heritage. She was supposed to be at the dinner, he said, “but couldn’t find her reservation.” He mentioned that Condoleezza Rice was also in the audience and said he always thought she would be the first female president. “Never in a million years would I have thought Joe Biden would beat her to it,” he added, suggesting that former first lady Jill Biden was the true president in a barb that also appeared to bomb with guests.

After the event, Trump flew to his Mar-a-Lago club in West Palm Beach, FL, for White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino’s wedding, scheduled to be held Sunday.

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