Trump unleashes his most brutal insults yet as he roasts Kamala Harris at glitzy Al Smith dinner - and no-one is safe from his zingers

Donald Trump tore into Kamala Harris for skipping the annual Al Smith dinner, calling her absence 'disrespectful' to Catholics.

The former president delivered the attacks in black tie at a gathering of New York elites at the major fundraiser for Catholic charities. The historic campaign fixture is the same forum where he tore into Hillary Clinton in 2016, with the ex-president admitting Thursday went too far in his insults eight years ago.

Trump's speech was packed with zingers as ribbed a raft of prominent attendees. Much of the speech however was devoted to Harris, who had sent in a pre-taped video appearance from the White House that appeared to bomb in the room.

'My opponent feels like she does not have to be here, which is disrespectful to the event and in particular to our great Catholic community – very disrespectful,' Trump said.

'The last Democrat not to attend this event was Walter Mondale and it did not go very well for him,' he said, pointing to Mondale's blowout loss to Ronald Reagan in 1984.

Mondale is the last Democratic presidential event to skip the event in an election year before Harris, who was campaigning in Michigan Thursday and sent her regrets.

He also went after Harris's running mate Tim Walz: 'This guy is calling us weird. But this is weird that the Democrat candidate is not with us tonight,' Trump said.

'If Dems really wanted to have someone not be with us this evening they would have just sent Joe Biden,' he said.

Notables in the crowd included Timothy Cardinal Michale Dolan, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, New York Mayor Eric Adams, and state AG Letitia James.

Trump even admitted one of his jokes was too 'nasty' – after he made a reference to second gentleman Doug Emhoff's affair with his children's nanny during his first marriage.

'The only piece of advice I would have for her, in the event that she wins, would be not to let her husband Doug anywhere near the nannies. Just keep them away. That's that nasty one. That's nasty,' Trump said. 'That's too tough,' he added.

That got Trump remarking that his own speech in 2016 where he torched Hillary Clinton went too far. Clinton attended that event and gave a fairly standard speech.

'I was running against crooked Hillary. And I did it, and I thought it was a roast. So I was told it's a roast. And I had the meanest guy you've ever seen write stuff up. And man, was the room angry.'

'I went overboard don't you agree. I was like terrible. Even my own side was angry at me. They said it's too much. But I did it anyway,' Trump said to chuckles.

'Catholics, you've got to vote for me. You better remember I'm here and she's not. I could have done that too,' Trump said.

Trump may have been miffed, but his repeated references underscored the importance of Catholic voters who hold sway nationwide but in particular in battleground states including Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, where Trump and Harris are locked in a tight race.

He got a round of applause when he concluded, along with some audible boos.

Trump devoted several jokes to Harris running mate Tim Walz – poking fun at his stumbles over his National Guard service and saying he was in China during the Tienanmen Square.

'Unfortunately, Governor Walz isn't in here himself. But don't worry, he'll say that he was,' Trump said, earning guffaws from the crowd.

Trump also bashed Walz for backing a Minnesota law to put feminine products in boys bathrooms.

'I used to think the Democrats were crazy for saying that men have periods, but then I met Tim Walz,' he said.