Donald Trump rules out running for US President

When “The Donald” first started hinting that he might run as a Republican candidate, comedians quipped that they thought he was really running as joke, while more hardened cynics thought he was only doing it for the publicity. But he pretended to be serious for weeks.

Within minutes of the news tweeting out that Trump was out of the race, satirists and TV writers were begging him to get back in. They are terrified that between now and the end of 2012 they are going to have to make jokes about Mitt Romney and Mitch Daniels.

Trump may seem like a walking punchline, but it may be his sense of humour that failed him in the end. You would think that anyone who left the house with Donald Trump’s hilarious hairstyle would be well used to being the butt of people’s jokes. But he certainly wasn’t laughing when he came to Washington to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

Trump may seem like a walking punchline, but it may be his sense of humour that failed him.

He thought he was riding high. It was the very week in which President Obama had released his full long form birth certificate and Donald Trump was claiming, with some justification, that it was him who had forced the President to publish the document. But President Obama deftly managed to turn the whole fiasco to his own advantage when he stood up to make his after dinner speech:

“I know he has taken some flak lately, but no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than The Donald,” said Obama.

“And that is 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?”

Trump was very clearly not laughing – even though the rest of the room was loving it. He remained stony-faced as the President addressed him directly.

“All kidding aside, we all know about your credentials and your breadth of experience. For example on a recent episode of ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ at the steakhouse, the men’s cooking team did not impress the men from Omaha Steaks.

“And there was lot of blame to go around. But you, Mr Trump, recognized that the real problem was lack of leadership. And so ultimately you didn’t blame [rapper] Lil Jon or [singer] Meatloaf, you fired [actor] Gary Busey.

“These are the kind of decisions that keep me up at night. Well handled sir, well handled,” Obama joked. But Trump did not laugh at all.

What put him off?

So was this what put him off? He insists he hasn’t pulled out because he couldn’t possibly win. A recent poll showed that 71 per cent of Americans thought he had no chance of becoming President, but he said on Monday: “I maintain the strong conviction that if I were to run I would be able to win the primary and ultimately the general election.”

So maybe he just didn’t like getting used as a political punch line. Sarah Palin quickly discovered when she entered presidential politics that you have to get used to being laughed at. After the White House Correspondents’ Dinner she joked that Donald Trump was taking he flak she usually gets.

“Great! There is some deflection there. I will have to thank him,” she told the Washington Post.

But as she is deciding whether or not she will join the 2012 race, she knows there is only one thing worse than when people are making jokes at your expense – and that’s when they are not.