President Donald Trump joked about impeachment, Jared Kushner’s security clearance and Melania Trump leaving him as he attended his first Gridiron Club dinner, a highly formal and traditional event full of the news media he often dubs “fake news.”
The event at the Renaissance Washington — with men in white ties and women in evening gowns — is more insider-ish and less high-profile than the celebrity filled White House Correspondents Association dinner, slated for April 28. Asked by Variety whether he planned to attend that dinner, Trump said, “We haven’t decided yet. Very soon.”
Before an audience that included Jared and Ivanka Trump, a number of cabinet secretaries and Vice President Mike Pence, Trump spent about a half-hour telling jokes, riffing on the news media, getting jabs in at potential 2020 opponents, bashing Democrats on DACA and even making a bit of news. He said that North Korea had called up and asked to begin talks but he told them that they have to “denuke” first.
He also joked about the situation, saying that he would not rule out talks with North Korean leader Kim Jung Un, but Kim faced “the risk of dealing with a madman. That’s his concern, not mine.”
Trump said that his staff worried how well he would do with self-deprecating humor.
“I told them not to worry — nobody can do self-deprecating humor better than I can.”
A number of his quips made fun of the atmosphere in the West Wing after a chaotic week, what with more staff departures and rumors of more to come.
“It’s been really another calm week at the White House,” he quipped. “We finally have it running like a fine-tuned machine.”
He was joined on the dais by his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, and the most controversial joke of the evening involved her.