--- title: Hasan Minhaj: Read White House Correspondents' Dinner Speech description: Featured speaker Hasan Minhaj did not hold back on roasts of President Donald Trump at the WHCD. Read the transcript of his speech canonical: https://time.com/4761644/hasan-minhaj-white-house-correspondents-dinner-speech-transcript/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-01T16:45:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T08:48:23.601Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read Hasan Minhaj's Full Speech From the White House Correspondents' Dinner og:description: Featured speaker Hasan Minhaj did not hold back on roasts of President Trump og:url: https://time.com/4761644/hasan-minhaj-white-house-correspondents-dinner-speech-transcript/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbf77d758351f17cc/6988cb6186f68e06296e4803/hasan-minhaj-whcd.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: hasan-minhaj-whcd og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read Hasan Minhaj's Full Speech From the White House Correspondents' Dinner twitter:description: Featured speaker Hasan Minhaj did not hold back on roasts of President Trump twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbf77d758351f17cc/6988cb6186f68e06296e4803/hasan-minhaj-whcd.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read Hasan Minhaj's Full Speech From the White House Correspondents' Dinner > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. 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. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=82715096-ea76-4a02-97f4-68a46d53ee77&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The 5 Best Jokes From the White House Correspondents' Dinner [Watch (HLS stream): The 5 Best Jokes From the White House Correspondents' Dinner](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lFg4V29B.m3u8) (1:48)  _Published 2017-04-30. The White House Correspondents' Dinner, usually a night where celebrities, politicians and the media team up for a night of laughter, was a different affair Saturday than in years past._ by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. May 1, 2017 4:45 PM UTC The White House Correspondents' Dinner, usually a night where celebrities, politicians and the media team up for a night of laughter, was a different affair Saturday than in years past. by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. May 1, 2017 4:45 PM UTC _Daily Show_ senior correspondent [Hasan Minhaj](http://time.com/4760719/white-house-correspondents-dinner-hasan-minhaj/) did not hold back on barbs directed at President Donald Trump and his administration during the [White House Correspondents’ Dinner](http://time.com/4760741/hasan-minhaj-whcd-funniest-jokes/). The dinner, held Saturday night, was a markedly different affair from years past — in a break with precedent, Trump [did not attend the dinner](http://time.com/4751756/trump-pennsylvania-rally-white-house-correspondents-dinner/), opting instead to bolster his fans at a [rally in Harrisburg, Pa](http://fortune.com/2017/04/23/trump-correspondents-dinner/). Despite Trump’s absence, Minhaj, the featured speaker for the event, went ahead in roasting the president and noting the importance of the First Amendment. “Now that King Joffrey is president, it feels like the Red Wedding in here,” he said. “For the record, the WHCA is a group of journalists; they are not King Joffrey’s goons.” Read his speech below: --- > “” --- ## Transcript [00:00] Hasan Minhaj. I [00:08] would say it's an honor to be here, but that would be [00:11] an alternative fact. It is not. No [00:15] one wanted to do this It lands in the hands [00:20] of an immigrant, it's how it always goes down. [00:21] [ LAUGH ] No one wanted this gig, no one. [00:25] [ APPLAUSE ] Don Rickles died just so you wouldn't ask [00:28] him to do this gig, all right? RIP to Don Rickles, the only [00:32] Donald with skin thick enough to take a joke like that. [00:34] RIP to the legend. The WHCA is a group of journalists [00:37] who cover the White House. They are not King Joffery's [00:40] goons. So I am so glad you guys are all here tonight to [00:43] honor a great American tradition. Because we all know [00:46] this Administration loves deleting history faster than [00:48] Anthony Weiner when he hears footsteps. So, thank you [00:50] for being here. We gotta address the elephant that's [00:53] not in the room. [ LAUGHTER ] [00:57] The leader of our country is not here. And [01:02] that's because he lives in Moscow, it is a very long [01:03] flight. [ LAUGH ] It'd be hard for Vlad to make, Vlad [01:06] can't just make it on a Saturday, it's a Saturday. [01:08] [ LAUGH ] As for the other guy, I think [01:12] he's in Pennsylvania because he can't take a joke. I get [01:14] why Donald Trump didn't wanna be roasted tonight. By [01:16] the looks of him, he's been roasting nonstop for the [01:18] past 70 years. He tweets At 3 AM, [01:23] sober. [ LAUGH ] [01:27] Who [01:30] is tweeting at 3 AM sober? [01:35] Donald Trump, because it's 10 AM in Russia, those are [01:37] business hours. Frederick Douglass isn't here and [01:41] that's because he's dead. Someone please tell the [01:43] President. 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