Surely one of Donald Trump’s most positive attributes is his sense of humor. He’s probably the funniest president in American history..

When Trump first proposed changing the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, I laughed out loud, believing he was joking. Nope. When he suggested making Greenland a state or some sort of protectorate, I laughed again, though this time I knew he was serious. When he sent out a picture of a golden Trump tower rising above some gray city in that wintery land, with the caption “I promise never to do this to Greenland,” there were more chuckles.

When, during his campaign, I watched him dance to “Y.M.C.A.” by the Village People—“Y.M.C.A.,” for goodness sakes!—I laughed even harder. What candidate would have the guts to pick a 50-year-old song with no real connection to politics or patriotism, and make it his signature dance? But that dancing went viral, and watching college students copy that dance on social media brought more laughter.

Here’s a guy who made a political ad while pretending to work in a McDonald’s—one of his favorite eateries—and in doing so brought smiles to millions of supporters. Shortly afterwards, when Joe Biden compared his opponent’s supporters to garbage, Trump arrived at a political rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin wearing a neon-orange worker’s safety vest and riding in a garbage truck.

More recently, while the cardinals were gathering in Rome to select a new pope, a picture of Trump was posted on social media adorned in papal regalia. The devout Catholics who are my friends and family found this self-portrait hysterical, proving once again the truth of G.K. Chesterton’s aphorism, “It is the test of a good religion whether you can joke about it.”

Search online for “Donald Trump’s funniest moments,” and you’ll get video entertainment galore from our commander-in-chief: his often chaotic speeches, his off-the-cuff remarks that bring a burst of laughter from his audiences, his braggadocio that in itself is a hallmark of his humor.  

Almost as amusing are the reactions he gets from his haters by these antics—made funnier by the fact that they definitely don’t get the joke. When Trump appeared decked out as a pope, some of those on the left yelped and declared his post sacrilegious, which roused a belly laugh from me. These critics belong to the same crowd that approves, or at least tolerates, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. If you’re unfamiliar with this “order,” a visit to their website will set you straight right away. 

And when Trump appeared in the window of that Wisconsin McDonald’s, there were again some howls from the left, but funniest of all were outbursts like the MSNBC column titled “The difference between work and Trump’s staged McDonald’s theatrics.” The columnist solemnly explains that no, Donald Trump wasn’t working that day at McDonald’s, and that yes, his appearance was staged. Oh, my gosh! Say it ain’t so!  

More recently, another MSNBC column attacked influential comedian and podcaster Theo Von for a “bigoted routine” in front of U.S. troops while he and Trump were both in Qatar. When we read the article, however, we find little evidence of bigotry, but we do find more freedom of speech and expression than we’ve seen in a long time from comedians, with the exception of Dave Chapelle. Despite all the left’s warnings about Trump attacking free speech, which in itself is humorous given the Biden record, the opposite effect seems at work in comedy clubs around the nation.

The MSNBC articles, and others like them, and the sour reaction to Trump’s humor from so many on the left, demonstrate that leftists are a little slow on the uptake when it comes to Trumpian humor. The man has lived in the public eye for decades, starred in his own reality show, served a term in the White House, spent four years being persecuted and prosecuted, returned again to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and still they can’t tell when he’s joking, trolling, or just having a great time.

Not all of Trump’s humor appeals. Many people, including me, find his “mean tweets” not only unnecessarily cruel, but lacking in class. His nicknames for opponents are often juvenile and again, in poor taste. Some may well wonder, as they did during the 2020 presidential campaign, whether anyone at all is monitoring some of his digital messages to the public.

That issue aside, for many of us Trump’s humor has played a key role in cutting away the noose of gloom and censorship that was strangling so many of us during the Biden administration. The difference is palpable, and the mood of the country has changed for the better.