Over the past week, President Donald Trump’s government has presided over the arrest of a prominent journalist, invoked false claims of fraud to seize ballots in Georgia and defended the shooting death of another protester in Minneapolis by federal agents.
He’s also done this: attended a lavish screening of his wife Melania’s documentary film, fixated on construction projects including a White House ballroom and griped repeatedly that he has not received adequate credit for his accomplishments.
In a frenetic presidency that has been marked by jarring contrasts, he added another Saturday night: suiting up in black-tie regalia and telling jokes about invading Greenland and bombing Iran even as demonstrators assembled across the nation to rebuke his aggressive roundups of noncitizens in Minneapolis.
In one sense, Trump’s appearance put him inside one of official Washington’s longtime traditions: the annual dinner of the Alfalfa Club, an exclusive organization of CEOs, politicians and other Washington luminaries. But it was done in characteristic Trumpian fashion, at once unapologetic and awkward, with barbs aimed at political adversaries, grievances over perceived slights and punch lines that at times fell flat before a bipartisan audience.
The appearance came a week after a fatal shooting in Minneapolis, a day after his administration released 3 million documents related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and four days after Trump’s latest public speech attempting to reset his focus on affordability, an enduring bugaboo for Republicans as this year’s midterm elections approach.
Spending his Saturday evening, as he himself put it in his remarks, in a room that included “people I hate” was an unlikely but somehow fitting end to a week in which he continued to test the limits of his power but also found time for distractions. After the speech, the president boarded Air Force One for a trip to Palm Beach that was scheduled to last less than 24 hours, speaking to reporters and creating another burst of headlines about Iran talks, his desire to punish aggressive protesters with “very serious force” and plans to file more lawsuits against adversaries.
At the dinner, Trump ridiculed his political opponents, joked about an imminent invasion of Greenland and suggested that he might sue his newly appointed Federal Reserve chairman.
It was the first time Trump addressed the Alfalfa Club, speaking before a room whose membership includes such foes as JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon (whose bank he is suing), David Rubenstein (whom he fired as head of the Kennedy Center) and Jerome H. Powell (the outgoing Fed chairman whose role he is investigating).
Some jokes landed with a thud, and the room fell silent repeatedly.
“So many people in the room I hate. Most of you I like,” he said, according to an attendee. “Who in the hell thought this was going to happen?”
He said that he might cut the speech short because he needed to watch the invasion of Greenland, before conceding it was a joke.
“We’re not going to invade Greenland. We’re going to buy it,” he said. “It’s never been my intention to make Greenland the 51st state. I want to make Canada the 51st state. Greenland will be the 52nd state. Venezuela can be 53rd.”
Trump also pointed to Kevin Warsh, his nominee to be the next Fed chairman.
“If he doesn’t lower interest rates I’m suing his ass off,” Trump said. After a beat, he added, “I’m kidding.” After another beat, he concluded, “Eh …”
Asked later by reporters about the comments, he responded, “It’s a roast. It’s a comedy night” — though he added that he hopes Warsh lowers interest rates.
“I mean, if you watch him on television, you know, because I’ve watched interviews and statements, I hope he’s going to lower them,” he said. “But he’s going to do what he wants to do.”
Trump also talked about first lady Melania Trump and the new documentary “Melania,” which was produced by Amazon, whose founder, Jeff Bezos, is a member of the Alfalfa Club. Bezos also owns The Washington Post. The president made light of the fact that the movie title did not include the name “Trump.”
He noted that his wife speaks multiple languages. “When she gets mad at me,” he said, “it’s like being at Davos all over again.”
Trump dropped several off-color comments about his political adversaries, according to attendees. He described calling Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) “Pocahontas” in reference to her claims of Native American heritage. She was supposed to be at the dinner, he said, “but couldn’t find her reservation.” He mentioned that Condoleezza Rice was also in the audience and said he always thought she would be the first female president. “Never in a million years would I have thought Joe Biden would beat her to it,” he added, suggesting that former first lady Jill Biden was the true president in a barb that also appeared to bomb with guests.
“I had the nastiest, most vicious joke about John Roberts,” he said of the Supreme Court chief justice. “If you think I’m going to tell that joke you can forget it.”
“I’m going to kiss his ass for a long time,” he added, an apparent reference to the role Roberts could play in deciding current and future cases involving Trump and his administration.
Trump also visited some of his favorite subjects. He boasted about building a ballroom at the White House and about the World Cup this year and the Summer Olympics in 2028.
A long procession of presidents have attended the Alfalfa Club dinner, but Trump canceled an appearance in 2017 and did not return until Saturday. Biden never spoke before the exclusive group during his presidency.
“One of my big goals this year was to get out and be among everyday, ordinary Americans,” then-President Barack Obama joked in 2012, “like the men and women of the Alfalfa Club.”
The evening is closed to the media. The 200 or so members are allowed to bring two guests each, all crowded into the Capital Hilton on the last Saturday in January.
The club started in 1913, with four friends gathering to celebrate the Jan. 19 birthday of Confederate general Robert E. Lee, according to a 2014 write-up in The Washington Post. The club’s name is a reference to the alfalfa plant, known for roots that travel deep to find refreshment.
The club did not admit Black members until 1974 or women until 1994, when Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, onetime Cabinet secretary and future U.S. senator Elizabeth Dole and Post publisher Katharine Graham were inducted.
After the dinner, Trump boarded Air Force One to fly to Palm Beach and spoke extensively with reporters during the flight. He said serious talks are underway with Iran; claimed he was unaware beforehand about the arrest of journalist Don Lemon (while also calling him a “sleazebag” and predicting that being in the news would be good for Lemon’s ratings); and praised Tom Homan, whom he dispatched to Minneapolis, as “a star.”
“Minnesota crime is way down because of what we’ve done,” Trump said, while later adding that he wants federal authorities to respond to protesters with “very serious force.”
“If they start yelling, spitting in people’s faces, punching our people, punching our soldiers, our patriots, they will get taken care of in at least an equal way,” he said.
Trump said he plans to sue journalist Michael Wolff and possibly the Epstein estate for “conspiring … to hurt me, politically or otherwise.”
“I was told by some very important people that not only does it absolve me, it’s the opposite of what people were hoping,” he said.
Trump spoke still wearing his tuxedo, fresh from the dinner.
“We had a good time at the Alfalfa Dinner,” he said. “I think we did well, I hope we did well. But it was very good. Tremendous people.”
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