President Donald Trump turned the spotlight on one of his own Cabinet members during his remarks at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, drawing laughter from the audience as he lampooned Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his well-documented history of unusual encounters with animals.

The White House Correspondents' Dinner, an annual tradition attended by journalists, politicians, and public figures, has long served as an occasion for presidents to deliver humorous, often self-deprecating or good-natured remarks. Trump, who declined to attend the dinner during much of his first term in office, used his time at the podium to single out Kennedy, who has previously attracted public attention for a series of unconventional interactions with wildlife.

"I hope that everyone finally got to enjoy their entire very delicious beef tenderloin, very special beef," Trump told attendees, before gesturing toward Kennedy and claiming the secretary "personally ran over the cow in his car."

The president continued the joke by saying Kennedy "cut it up, and he brought it here for you to eat tonight, so it's very fresh."

Earlier this year, Kennedy appeared in a viral video in which he grabbed a snake and was bitten, later responding to the attention by posting another video of himself handling a snake. The episode renewed public scrutiny of Kennedy's past behavior with animals, which has included picking up a dead bear cub from the side of the road — Kennedy publicly acknowledged in 2024 that he had left the cub in New York's Central Park a decade earlier — using a chainsaw to remove the head from a dead whale, and traveling aboard a commercial flight with a falcon.

Trump then pivoted to another gag involving Kennedy's culinary tastes. "And Bobby also suggested an appetizer featuring his favorite cut of male raccoon roadkill," the president said. "But we drew the line at that, Cheryl. We said, no, 'We're not going to do that. We're not doing that.'"

Kennedy was seen laughing at the remarks alongside his wife, actress Cheryl Hines, as those seated around them joined in the laughter.

Trump concluded the segment by describing his Health and Human Services Secretary as "a piece of work," adding, "it is fun, but he is a very different kind of a person."

Kennedy, a member of the storied Kennedy political family and a former environmental lawyer, was appointed by Trump to lead the Department of Health and Human Services after a confirmation process that drew intense debate over his longstanding skepticism of vaccines and federal health agencies. His past interactions with animals have periodically surfaced in media coverage throughout his career in public life.