--- 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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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=c9b1653a-bc4f-4fe0-820f-34be648fdb97&cr=time-nl-network-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 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 Hasan Minhaj. I would say it's an honor to be here, but that would be an alternative fact. It is not. No one wanted to do this It lands in the hands of an immigrant, it's how it always goes down. [ LAUGH ] No one wanted this gig, no one. [ APPLAUSE ] Don Rickles died just so you wouldn't ask him to do this gig, all right? RIP to Don Rickles, the only Donald with skin thick enough to take a joke like that. RIP to the legend. The WHCA is a group of journalists who cover the White House. They are not King Joffery's goons. So I am so glad you guys are all here tonight to honor a great American tradition. Because we all know this Administration loves deleting history faster than Anthony Weiner when he hears footsteps. So, thank you for being here. We gotta address the elephant that's not in the room. [ LAUGHTER ] The leader of our country is not here. And that's because he lives in Moscow, it is a very long flight. [ LAUGH ] It'd be hard for Vlad to make, Vlad can't just make it on a Saturday, it's a Saturday. [ LAUGH ] As for the other guy, I think he's in Pennsylvania because he can't take a joke. I get why Donald Trump didn't wanna be roasted tonight. By the looks of him, he's been roasting nonstop for the past 70 years. He tweets At 3 AM, sober. [ LAUGH ] Who is tweeting at 3 AM sober? Donald Trump, because it's 10 AM in Russia, those are business hours. Frederick Douglass isn't here and that's because he's dead. Someone please tell the President. 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