President Donald Trump publicly criticized the writing and humor in his own address at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, at one point calling the entire speech "freaking stupid."

During the Friday evening event, Trump delivered an approximately hour-long speech at the annual dinner, a longstanding Washington tradition dating back to 1921 where the President typically delivers remarks before an audience of journalists, politicians, and other public figures. The dinner has historically served as a rare night of detente between the White House press corps and the administration it covers, with presidents traditionally roasting themselves, their opponents, and the media. Trump skipped the dinner every year during his first term, breaking a decades-long streak of presidential attendance, making this appearance a notable departure.

However, Trump expressed visible dissatisfaction with the comedic material woven throughout the address.

At multiple points during the speech, Trump asked aloud, "Who the h— wrote this?" Presidents typically rely on teams of speechwriters and comedy consultants to craft the roast-style remarks the dinner is known for.

One segment of the address began with a serious point about congressional term limits. "All joking aside, I do think we need term limits in Congress," Trump said. "I think term limits are very important because I see what's happening."

The remark on term limits then transitioned into an anecdote about an unnamed senator. Trump described "a senator I knew...a great guy" who received a text message from his wife.

"She said, 'When you get home, I want to have you immediately come up the stairs and make love to me,'" Trump recounted. "And he said, 'I can't do both.'"

The punchline — "I can't do both" — was met with silence from the audience. Trump quickly noticed the lack of reaction and attempted to signal that the remark was intended as a joke.

"Haha," he said, smiling at the crowd. "You know? You know?"

Trump repeated the punchline and continued attempting to explain the humor, but the audience remained quiet. Trump then flashed what appeared to be a mocking grin, seemingly to convey the comment was meant to be funny.

"In other words, you can't go up the stairs and make love," Trump elaborated. "Does anybody get that one? I thought that was actually pretty good."

He then added: "That was actually the only thing I thought was good in this whole freaking stupid speech."