Donald Trump Washington dinner remarks at the 2026 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner on Friday, July 24, drew a blunt response from Scott Jennings after the event was moved from April. Jennings said Trump opened and closed the hour-long speech strongly, but that the middle would draw controversy because some jokes landed and others did not.
Jennings said, "We do not yield to political violence." He added, "I thought that was probably the best line of the speech, given the nature of the event tonight."
Trump on Kaitlan Collins
Trump used part of the speech to blast Kaitlan Collins and labeled the award she received as "fake." He also compared Collins to Dylan Mulvaney, keeping the focus on one of the most pointed parts of the remarks.
That section sat beside a different target in the same speech. Trump said, "I hope that everyone finally got to enjoy their entire very delicious beef tenderloin. Very special beef. And I want you all to know that Bobby Kennedy is right here. Personally ran over the cow in his car, and he cut it up, and he brought it here for you to eat tonight."
Scott Jennings on the RFK joke
Jennings singled out that line as his favorite part of the speech. He said, "I thought the best joke was the RFK joke," and added, "You know, I hope you enjoyed the beef. He ran over the cow that I think, that was probably the best joke."
He said some of Trump's jokes "veered off into very, sort of ornery insults" and were not going to "land for many audiences." Jennings also said Trump ended by saying, "I have great respect for your profession."
The speech left two clear takeaways for readers tracking the dinner: Trump used the stage to attack Collins and deliver a string of jokes around Robert F. Kennedy Jr., while Jennings split his response between praise for the opening and ending and criticism of the middle. The remaining question is which specific remarks in the middle were meant to carry the controversy Jennings described.
