Donald Trump squirms as Barack Obama deals death-by-jokes

PRESIDENT Barack Obama told jokes at the expense of US property mogul Donald Trump on Saturday night, mocking his possible presidential ambitions in remarks at the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner.With Mr Trump in the hotel ballroom audience of celebrities, politicians and journalists, Mr Obama zeroed in on talk fuelled by the billionaire that the president was not US-born.

Last Wednesday, the White House released a longer version of Mr Obama's birth certificate to answer some Republicans, including Mr Trump, who claim he was not native-born and therefore ineligible to be president, with the president himself giving a short speech blasting "carnival barkers" who refuse to let the issue die.

Mr Trump has seized on the issue while testing the waters for a possible 2012 run for the Republican presidential nomination. Mr Obama is running for re-election with the Democrats next year.

"Donald Trump is here tonight. And I know that he's taken some flak lately. But no-one is happier, no-one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than 'The Donald'," said Mr Obama, using Mr Trump's nickname.

"And that's because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter. Like, did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?" Mr Obama added, drawing laughs and applause.

Roswell refers to an incident in the vicinity of Roswell, New Mexico, where, according to some theories, an object that crashed in 1947 was an extra-terrestrial spacecraft carrying alien occupants. Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur were rap stars whose deaths are the subject of continuing controversy.

Mr Obama suggested that Mr Trump's biggest decisions typically involve the sackings he dishes out on his reality television show Celebrity Apprentice, such as when he dumped actor Gary Busey last week, while keeping singer Meat Loaf.

"These are the kinds of decisions that would keep me up at night," Mr Obama deadpanned. "Well handled, sir. Well handled."

Trump grinned, pursing his lips and looking uncomfortable.

"I think we all know about your credentials and breadth of experience," Mr Obama said of Mr Trump, drawing laughs.

"Say what you want about Mr Trump," the president added. "He certainly would bring change to the White House."

Big video screens in the ballroom then flashed an image of what was labelled "Trump, The White House," spoofing the businessman's practice of naming buildings after himself.

It portrayed a hotel-casino-golf course with bikini-clad girls frolicking in a fountain, and the white columns replaced by gold ones.
Mr Trump's mood worsened as comedian Seth Meyers picked up where Mr Obama left off.

"Donald Trump often talks about running as a Republican, which is surprising," said the Saturday Night Live actor. "I just assumed he was running as a joke."

Mr Trump has made a series of controversial comments as he mulls a presidential campaign and attacked Mr Obama and other US political leaders in a profanity-laced speech in Las Vegas last week, calling them "stupid".

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Born in the USA: Barack Obama joke enjoyed by journalists at annual dinner

It was the moment everyone had been waiting for. The US president was about to take the stage and the Marine Band, laid on by the White House especially for the occasion, had begun to sound the opening notes of the traditional Hail to the Chief.

Suddenly, there was an unexpected glitch. "Can we go with the song we talked about?" Barack Obama said as he came to the podium. The band switched tack and began belting out the Bruce Springsteen classic, Born in the USA.

It was Obama's best joke of the night, delivered in the classic, self-deprecating style that has been handed down from president to president. Every president since Grover Cleveland has subjected himself to the ritual humiliations of the annual Gridiron Club dinner, hosted by Washington's political journalists, where they have come to mock and be mocked.

In Obama's case, the joke was focused on the ongoing conspiracy theory – more than half of Republican primary voters are said to believe it – that the president was not born in the US. In his speech to more than 600 journalists, officials and celebrities at a Washington hotel, Obama returned to the theme later.

As he ridiculed little-known Tim Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota who has his eye on running against him for president next year, Obama said: "The American people are going to have some tough questions for Tim.

"Specifically, 'Who are you and where do you come from?'" After a split second pause, he continued: "Which is OK. Two years into my presidency and I'm still getting those questions."

He had another crack at the joke in reference to the Indiana governor Mitch Daniels, who had delivered the after-dinner speech for the Republicans. He told the potential 2012 candidate: "Your friends at Fox News say you don't look like a president. Well, don't worry about it, they say the same thing about me every day."

Obama also jousted with Haley Barbour, Mississippi's chubby governor, who is yet another possible candidate in 2012 and displays the south's famous fondness for barbecue ribs and other fatty foods. Obama thanked him for supporting the first lady's anti-obesity drive, then added: "Haley, when Michelle said you should run, she didn't mean for president."

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