A video is shown as President Barack Obama speaks about Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in Washington, April 30, 2011. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File) A video is shown as President … more >

Lara Trump disputes the famous story of what motivated Donald Trump to seek the presidency

by · The Washington Times

It’s long been conventional wisdom among Washington politicos that the seeds of President Trump’s White House aspirations were sown when he attended the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner — and then-President Barack Obama roasted him from the podium.

But Lara Trump, his daughter-in-law, says that’s not the case.

“Many people like to go back to that Obama-era correspondents’ dinner, where they say that was the moment Donald Trump decided to run for president. I will push back on that. I think there are a lot of reasons he decided to run for president,” she said on her podcast, “The Right View.”

Mr. Trump was at the dinner as a guest of The Washington Post. Both Mr. Obama and comic Seth Meyers, the evening’s main entertainment, poked fun at the then-reality TV star.

At that time, Mr. Trump had led a push to discredit Mr. Obama’s U.S. citizenship, calling into question the legality of his serving as president.

SEE ALSO: Did Obama’s roast really launch Trump’s political career? Lara Trump says not so fast

“Donald Trump is here tonight,” Mr. Obama said during the 2011 dinner. “Now, I know he’s taken some flak lately, but 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 focusing on the issues that matter, like, did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?” he said.

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Mr. Meyers likewise targeted the real estate mogul-turned-reality TV star.

“Donald Trump has been saying that he will run for president as a Republican, which is surprising since I just assumed he’d be running as a joke,” Mr. Meyers said at the 2011 event.

The camera panned to Mr. Trump, who sat rigidly as the jokes flew.

That was the last time Mr. Trump attended the correspondents’ dinner before last weekend. Saturday’s dinner was abruptly postponed after a gunman tried to storm the ballroom at the Washington Hilton.

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• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.