Trump Speech Shows Rising Profanity, Definitive Language

A New York Times analysis finds Trump's public remarks have grown more profane and absolute in phrasing over the past decade, while the White House dismisses concerns about changes in his speaking style.

Updated on Nov. 1, 2026 in Alzheimer’s

Trump Speech Shows Rising Profanity, Definitive Language

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Does Trump's changing speaking style affect how much you trust the federal government?

The New York Times analyzed Trump's public remarks and found increased profanity and more definitive expressions compared with prior years. The White House dismissed concerns about changes in his speaking style.

Why it matters

The analysis offers measurable data on changes in the speech patterns of a sitting U.S. president, a topic that has drawn public attention and debate about communication and cognitive health. The White House's dismissal leaves the interpretation of these trends contested.

The analysis measured profanity at about 15 per 10,000 words, up from 6 a decade ago and 14 in 2024, and definitive expressions up 19% from 2015. Speech length averaged 85 minutes, nearly double the 42 minutes of a decade ago, and the study does not link these shifts to any specific cause.

The players

Donald Trump

The 47th President of the United States, whose public remarks were analyzed for changes in profanity and speaking style over the past decade.

The New York Times

The American newspaper that published the analysis of Trump's public remarks and their changing language patterns.

The White House

The executive office of the U.S. president, which dismissed concerns about changes in Trump's speaking style.

The details

The analysis compared remarks from 2015 to the present and tracked profanity per 10,000 words along with the frequency of words such as 'always,' 'never,' and 'completely.' It also reported that rambling or difficult-to-understand remarks in the second term reached 2.5 times the rate of the 2016 campaign period, and that his vocabulary sits at a 4th to 5th grade level compared with an 8th grade average for U.S. presidents.

- 2015: Analysis baseline begins, the year Trump first ran for office.
- 2016: Campaign period used as the comparison point for rambling remarks.
- 2024: Comparison year for definitive expressions and profanity figures.
- November 1, 2026: The New York Times publishes the analysis.

Health Landscape

Efforts to track language changes as indicators of cognitive health have drawn on quantitative text analysis, a method used in dementia research. The New York Times analysis applies similar speech metrics to a sitting president, though the study does not make a medical diagnosis.

For readers, the analysis offers a data-based framework for judging changes in public speech over time rather than relying on impressions alone. The findings may inform how voters and media assess a leader's communication patterns.

The takeaway

Measurable markers such as word choice, speech length, and phrasing frequency can be tracked over time to provide a clearer picture of communication changes than general impressions alone.