--- title: Al Smith Dinner: Read Donald Trump's Speech Transcript description: Donald Trump spoke at the Alfred E. Smith charity dinner in New York City on Thursday night. Read the full transcript of his remarks here canonical: https://time.com/4539981/read-the-transcript-donald-trump-speech-al-smith-dinner/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-21T08:47:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:45:26.516Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read Donald Trump's Al Smith Dinner Speech og:description: The white-tie affair is an election-year tradition og:url: https://time.com/4539981/read-the-transcript-donald-trump-speech-al-smith-dinner/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0add9ae35c5ec852/6988aaff97cdff1cf66ae442/gettyimages-615942912.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Donald Trump And Hillary Clinton Attend Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read Donald Trump's Al Smith Dinner Speech twitter:description: The white-tie affair is an election-year tradition twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0add9ae35c5ec852/6988aaff97cdff1cf66ae442/gettyimages-615942912.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read the Transcript of Donald Trump's Speech at the Al Smith Dinner > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Oct 21, 2016 8:47 AM UTC  Donald Trump speaks at the annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria, Oct. 20, 2016 in New York. Donald Trump speaks at the annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria, Oct. 20, 2016 in New York.Spencer Platt/Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Oct 21, 2016 8:47 AM UTC Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump spoke Thursday night at the 71st Al Smith dinner in New York City. Read the full transcript of his remarks below. --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4539981/read-the-transcript-donald-trump-speech-al-smith-dinner/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4539981/read-the-transcript-donald-trump-speech-al-smith-dinner/"},"headline":"Read the Transcript of Donald Trump's Speech at the Al Smith Dinner","datePublished":"2016-10-21T08:47:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:45:26.516Z","description":"The white-tie affair is an election-year tradition","url":"https://time.com/4539981/read-the-transcript-donald-trump-speech-al-smith-dinner/","keywords":["Donald Trump","2016 Election","transcripts"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0add9ae35c5ec852/6988aaff97cdff1cf66ae442/gettyimages-615942912.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0add9ae35c5ec852/6988aaff97cdff1cf66ae442/gettyimages-615942912.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump And Hillary Clinton Attend Alfred E. 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