A New York Times analysis of Trump's remarks since 2015 found he swears about 15 times per 10,000 words, up from six a decade ago, and gives speeches averaging 85 minutes, up from 42. The Times said language changes alone cannot establish cognitive decline. The White House rejected claims that he has lost a step.
A Sunday New York Times report by Peter Baker and Dylan Freedman said Trump has become more profane, more absolutist, longer-winded and less coherent than he was in 2016. The analysis used AI technology on thousands of Trump's speeches, rants and social media posts since 2015. Trump is 80.
Profanity and absolutist language
The Times found Trump uses about 15 swear words per 10,000 words, compared with six per 10,000 a decade ago. The figure was about 14 in 2024, according to the analysis. Freedman said the researchers found Trump swearing almost three times as much as in 2016. The review also found that Trump uses all-or-nothing words almost a fifth more often than a decade ago and about 5% more than in 2024. Examples of such words include always, never, everything and absolutely. The analysis found he has leaned heavily into language describing utter catastrophe or massive triumphs.
Longer speeches and rambling passages
Trump's speeches averaged 42 minutes a decade ago and now run 85 minutes, according to the Times analysis. Rambling or confusing digressions at rallies and speeches are 2.5 times as frequent as during his 2016 campaign. Freedman said Trump goes into rambling, digressive passages about two and a half times more often than he used to. His vocabulary level changed little over the decade, consistently testing at a fourth- to fifth-grade reading level, compared with roughly eighth grade on average for modern US presidents.
Schedule and online activity
Trump averaged 2.1 public events per weekday in his first term and 1.3 in his second. He posts online an average of 21 times a day, versus 13 in 2016 and 34 in 2024. In his second term he has posted between midnight and 5 a.m. on roughly three days out of every 10. On 240 occasions he posted 10 or more items within a single hour. He began his second term at 78, the oldest president ever inaugurated.
Experts and the Times on interpretation
The Times said changes in language use alone cannot establish cognitive decline. Experts likewise caution that linguistic patterns alone are not sufficient to assess cognitive health. Cognitive experts warn that all-or-nothing phrases can be a sign of aging and cognitive decline, and say the rise in profanity is consistent with diminishing cognitive abilities. Freedman said some medical experts point to the increased swearing as a sign of age-related disinhibition, while noting the Times reporters are not doctors. Former ABC newsman Terry Moran said on The Daily Beast Podcast that Trump is not as sharp as he used to be on the stump and curses in place of his earlier crowd-reading riffs.
White House response and recent events
White House spokesman Davis Ingle rejected claims that Trump has lost a step, citing his sharpness, unmatched energy, relentless work ethic and historic accessibility. At an Oct. 20 rally in Greenville, North Carolina, Trump told the Willie Horton story twice in less than half an hour, per Jake Tapper's account on CNN. He got the facts wrong both times. At a Pendleton, South Carolina rally, the Times report said, he struggled to recall the Nobel Peace Prize and initially called it the Pulitzer Prize. It also said he mispronounced the Strait of Hormuz as the Hormone Strait. Ahead of Tuesday's midterm elections, Trump told supporters to cheat like hell and said people who leak military secrets should be shot.
Exchange with a Reuters reporter
Reuters reporter Jacob Bogage asked whether Trump skipped rally stops because of travel fatigue. Trump replied that Bogage was sick to ask and criticized the reporter's physical shape. After being questioned about cancelled campaign appearances in Kansas and Iowa, Trump told him he looked like hell. Trump later posted Bogage's photograph on Truth Social.
