Trump keeps supporters laughing, confounds critics with his style of humor

Thousands gathered in Pennsylvania in mid-December to hear President Trump talk about the economy. The very partisan pro-Trump crowd applauded, cheered and shouted support at the president.

They also did something that surprised his critics: They laughed. A lot.

Mr. Trump’s speech was interrupted six times by laughter from the crowd, according to a review by The Washington Times.

The president’s riffs on his opponents drew guffaws from the crowd. He impersonated former President Joseph R. Biden: “It’s great to be back in this state. Uh, where are we?”

He mocked Democrats’ cost-of-living message: “Democrats talking about affordability is like Bonnie and Clyde talking about public safety.”

The president’s favorite target was himself as he peppered his speech with self-deprecating remarks. He joked about the 2024 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, saying that if he turned his head in a different direction, he would have “a little differently shaped ear.”

Mr. Trump made fun of his freewheeling speaking style by telling the crowd, “If I read what’s on the teleprompter, you’d be all falling asleep right now.” He even added comical sound effects to his rhetorical style, dubbed “the weave.”

The president’s unscripted quips become an essential part of his communication with the public and perhaps his most debated personality trait. Supporters eat up his schtick, enjoying the departure from canned, overprepared political speeches.

His critics, meanwhile, have deemed his remarks offensive and downright cruel.

Those who work inside the White House say Mr. Trump’s sense of humor isn’t just for the crowds and he is frequently making jokes when the cameras are off.

“There has never been a president who communicates more effectively and connects better with the American people than President Trump. A signature part of President Trump’s core appeal is his authenticity, personal charm and great sense of humor. President Trump is a legendary figure, and there will never be another president like him,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told The Times.

White House insiders shared with The Times some of their favorite Trump one-liners over the past month.

Mr. Trump attended a White House Christmas party with tech billionaire Michael Dell. During his remarks, Mr. Trump discussed how both he and Mr. Dell started with $1,000 and continued to make more money. He then joked that he realized he couldn’t keep up with Mr. Dell, so he ran for president instead.

Staffers enjoyed the zingers Mr. Trump directed at Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker at this year’s turkey pardon.

Mr. Trump began his speech by calling his frequent political opponent “a big, flat slob.” Later, Mr. Trump said his speechwriters wrote some jokes about Mr. Pritzker’s weight, but he wasn’t going to use them.

“I don’t talk about people being fat. I refuse to talk about the fact that he’s a fat slob. I don’t mention it,” Mr. Trump said to uproarious laughter from the crowd.

Lawmakers who have spent time with the president say he has cracked them up during private moments.

Rep. Byron Donalds, Florida Republican, said his favorite moment was just before Mr. Trump rode a trash truck to one of his campaign rallies after Mr. Biden referred to his supporters as “garbage.” Mr. Trump delivered the speech wearing a sanitation worker vest and told Mr. Donalds he was wearing it because “it slims me down.”

“He’s got a great sense of humor. He’s very misunderstood, which is why people have their opinions based on what they watch on TV or clips, but people who spend time with him leave liking him,” Mr. Donalds said.

Rep. Richard Hudson, North Carolina Republican, said his favorite Trump line was during his joint address to Congress in March, when he roasted Mr. Biden for urging Congress to pass new border security legislation.

“It turned out that all we really needed was a new president,” Mr. Trump said.

“He’s hysterically funny. The funniest times I get to spend with him are when we are all relaxed,” Mr. Hudson said. “When I think of him, what I think of is his compassion and his humor.”

Even Mr. Trump’s harshest critics have acknowledged that he can be funny.

“If you take away the hateful poison of what he says, the actual comedic timing is very, very good. It’s very good. If I can take away, like how much I dislike him and what he stands for and what he’s saying — if I was a supporter, I would be like, ‘This is the funniest guy in the world,’” comedian Brett Gelman told Larry King in 2019.

Other critics accuse Mr. Trump of using humor to cover up his policies. They say the president is relying on jokes to normalize policies that are authoritarian threats to democracy.

“This comic-authoritarian politics has some advantages over the older dictatorial style. It allows a threat to democracy to appear as, at worst, a tasteless prank,” Irish author Fintan O’Toole wrote in The New York Times. “Trump’s audiences, in other words, are not passive. This comedy is a joint enterprise of performer and listener. It gives those listeners the opportunity for consent and collusion.”

Mr. Trump’s comic timing is not something that has come by accident, but rather from years of performing on film, television and the stage.

Before he entered the political sphere, entertainment executives sought after the multibillionaire businessman to appear in their fast-food commercials, blockbuster movies, hit TV shows, radio programs and sports arenas.

In 2011, he proved that he could not only dish it out but also take it, as comedians Whitney Cummings, Seth MacFarlane, and Jeff Ross mocked him during a Comedy Central roast. He laughed along as the comedians roasted his presidential ambitions four years before he declared his candidacy and ended the roast, making a profane joke comparing his hair to “wet raccoon.”

He hosted “Saturday Night Live” multiple times. His appearance on Nov. 7, 2015, during his presidential campaign, drew massive ratings. When he hosted on April 3, 2004, he appeared in a sketch wearing a bright yellow suit, shirt and tie, extolling his newest venture, known as “Trump’s House of Wings,” while the theme of “Jump for My Love” played in the background.

Long before Mr. Trump served up burgers and french fries at the McDonald’s drive-thru in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, toward the end of the presidential campaign, he talked to one of the fast-food giant’s biggest icons, Grimace. In a 1999 TV ad about the company’s $1 hamburger and McChicken sandwich, he asked Grimace how he managed to pull off such a deal.

When the smiling, large purple McDonald’s mascot remained mute, Mr. Trump said, “You’re a man of few words. I like that.” He later said, “Purple, very powerful.”

Pizza Hut also featured Mr. Trump in ads. In 1995, he and his first wife, Ivana, promoted the chain’s stuffed pizza crust while wearing formal attire. “We eat our pizza the wrong way,” she said. “Crust first,” Mr. Trump responded.

Earlier in the decade, Mr. Trump did a seven-second cameo in the “Home Alone” sequel, where Macaulay Culkin bumps into the billionaire in one of his New York hotels. That famous cameo was edited out in subsequent TV airings when Mr. Trump was in the White House.

By the early 2000s, the future president was taking on World Wrestling Entertainment boss Vince McMahon and others in the wrestling ring, where he showed off his physical comedy.