© Jewel Samad/AFP/GettyBarack Obama at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner.
The annual tradition has the president mocking others and himself as celebrities mingle with journalists and politicians.
Obama made fun of conservative television hosts' talk about Putin's bare chest and a comment from one last year about Putin being headed for a Nobel peace prize. "To be fair, they give those to just about anybody these days," said Obama, who received the prize in 2009.
The president also joked about opposition claims that he had been born overseas rather than in the United States. Looking ahead to a possible successor, Obama said it will be a lot harder for Republicans to prove that Hillary Rodham Clinton was born in Kenya.
The president poked fun at CNN's extensive coverage of the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane. He said he was still jet-lagged from his visit in recent days to Malaysia and added, "The lengths we have to go to get CNN coverage these days!"
Obama also turned the humour on himself and his difficult 2013, including the deeply troubled rollout of the website for his health care overhaul.
His wife, Michelle Obama, accompanied him to the black-tie event, and Joel McHale, star of the NBC series Community, was the featured entertainer. Celebrities attending included Sofia Vergara and the stars of Washington-centric shows such as Veep and Scandal.
The correspondents' association, which represents the White House press corps, is celebrating its 100th anniversary.
Source: Associated Press
Comment: If you want a glimpse into the American mindset and character, look no further than the annual White House Correspondents' dinner! While a leader like Vladimir Putin annually spends several hours answering ordinary peoples' questions, the American president makes bad jokes, ridiculing real issues and poking fun at things that should be taken very seriously. WMD, drones, death and destruction are all fair game for the glib 'leader of the free world'! If Obama had a SHRED of real decency, he would return his Nobel prize and start doing community service.