When Obama roasted Trump so much that he decided to become POTUS

April 30, 2011, was not any ordinary Saturday evening in Washington, DC. Behind the scenes, then-president Barack Obama had just signed off on a covert operation to eliminate Osama bin Laden. But the same evening, he also gave a speech that was full of jokes at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. One of his prime targets? Donald Trump.

Then, Trump was loudly touting the hypothesis that Obama was not born in the United States and was therefore not a legitimate president.

During the dinner, Obama took to the stage with a smile and delivered this jab.

"Donald Trump is here tonight! No one is happier, no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than the Donald. And that’s because he can finally get back to the issues that matter—like, did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?" he said.

He continued by mocking Trump’s reality TV experience, "These are the kinds of decisions that would keep me up at night."

Comedian Seth Meyers added fuel to the fire, saying, "Donald Trump has been saying that he will run for president as a Republican, which is surprising since I just assumed he was running as a joke."

TRUMP WAS NOT AMUSED

As the room erupted into laughter, Trump remained silent, clearly agitated. Reporters and guests could see how stiff and angry he appeared.

"He was being treated as a piata by the president of the United States, and I think he felt humiliated," said David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker.

Even former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie later wrote that Trump seemed "beside himself with fury."

THE MOMENT THAT LIT THE FIRE

According to a Newsweek report, although Trump had made previous comments regarding running for president, most who are close to him say that this was the time he finally decided to do so.

"I recognised at that point that he really was going to run," said longtime adviser Roger Stone. "I could see the clench of his jaw as he sat there."

Even former Apprentice star and Trump aide Omarosa Manigault remembered thinking:

"Ohhhh, Barack Obama is starting something that I don’t know if he’ll be able to finish."

WAS IT A POLITICAL MISTAKE?

Obama’s team felt great about the night. "It was, at the time, we thought, our most successful speech," said Dan Pfeiffer, a senior adviser.

But years later, some questioned whether publicly mocking Trump was a mistake.

"Let’s really lean into Trump here. That’ll be good for us," recalled Obama’s campaign manager David Plouffe.

The next day, the world was watching Obama's daring military action. But for Trump, the humiliation never faded.

Four years later, he ran for president—and won.

And it could have all begun that Saturday night when he was roasted by a president who didn't realise how much Trump would take it so seriously.

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