An analysis by The New York Times, which used artificial intelligence to examine more than 6,500 excerpts from US President Donald Trump’s speeches since last year, has found that his rhetorical style has become more profane, less coherent, and more categorical in its judgments than it was when he first ran for president in 2016.
The newspaper compiled thousands of Trump’s speeches, interviews, and social media posts, drawing on data from a project by the Roll Call organization to analyze his speaking patterns from 2015 through late October 2026.
The Times reports that Trump, who became the oldest person ever inaugurated as US president in January 2025 and turned 80 last June, has demonstrated considerable physical stamina as he travels across the country on a series of campaign trips ahead of the congressional midterm elections. Yet his speeches and remarks on the campaign trail and at the White House have featured numerous bewildering statements, renewing questions about the effects of his advancing age and the stability of his mental faculties.
Trump on Obama: Barack, I’ll teach you that sometime: cleanliness. I’ll teach you cleanliness. I’ll teach you a little bit about… real estate. He’s the guy that built one of the ugliest places I’ve ever seen in Chicago. But I wish him well.
— Viory Video (@vioryvideo) November 1, 2026
Key findings
According to The New York Times, Trump sometimes appears increasingly forgetful and repetitive, while his remarks have become more verbose, more profane, and more prone to sweeping, categorical judgments than they were when he first sought the presidency in 2016. His lengthy speeches also frequently appear more confused and disjointed, with comments that leave audiences wondering what he means or that seem to contradict the point he is trying to make.
In late September, Trump made a remark while speaking inside the White House’s newly constructed but unfinished ballroom, saying that “only the Hispanic one could survive if I fell off the edge.”
He also expressed a desire to bar immigrants from Norway because he had not received the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. He said he did not care in the slightest if people accused him of prioritizing oil companies’ profits over struggling American workers.
Trump has also mispronounced the name of the Strait of Hormuz, calling it the “Strait of Hormones,” and urged his supporters to engage in “desperate cheating” in Tuesday’s congressional elections. He further said that people who leak military information “should be executed by firing squad.” His remarks have also included repeated sexually charged comments directed at certain men.
Notably, The New York Times adds, Trump himself sometimes appears astonished by what he says and by the enthusiasm with which his supporters receive his remarks.
At a recent rally in Tennessee, he expressed surprise, saying, “I could say the stupidest things, and you’d applaud me, saying, ‘Oh, we love you so much.’” He quickly added, “But we don’t say stupid things. We say things dictated by common sense. We say things that make sense.”
Former Republican congressman Francis Rooney of Florida said, “He spews an enormous amount of nonsense, even by his own standards, and makes a lot of provocative and aggressive remarks. I have never heard this kind of combative, hostile style from a president.”
The White House has rejected suggestions that Trump’s performance has deteriorated. White House spokesman Davis Ingle said the president possessed “mental acuity, unmatched energy, a tireless work ethic, and exceptional communication skills,” dismissing concerns about his provocative remarks.
“The president doesn’t care about political correctness. He is focused on making America great again,” Ingle added. “The American people appreciate the president’s honesty, transparency, and effectiveness.”
Statistical findings
The New York Times’ review, covering the period from 2015 through last Thursday, found that during his second presidential term Trump has used categorical words such as “always,” “never,” “everything” and “absolutely” at campaign rallies at a rate 19% higher than a decade ago and 5% higher than in 2024. Such language is associated with black-and-white thinking, which experts say often accompanies aging or cognitive decline.
Trump’s language has also become more vulgar. He now uses approximately 15 profanities for every 10,000 words, compared with 14 two years ago and six a decade ago. The shift is consistent with a decline in inhibitions associated with aging.
Using an artificial intelligence-supported metric, the newspaper’s review found that Trump makes rambling or confusing digressions during rallies and speeches in his second term at a rate two and a half times higher than during his 2016 presidential campaign, although the figure remains close to the level recorded in 2024.
His vocabulary, The New York Times reports, has remained largely unchanged, as has the reading level of his speeches, which falls between fourth- and fifth-grade levels. By comparison, the average reading level of speeches by modern US presidents is equivalent to eighth grade.
The president’s public schedule has also become less demanding, averaging 1.3 public events a day, compared with 2.1 during his first term.
Trump, however, has become more active on social media, posting an average of 21 times a day, up from 13 in 2016, although that remains below the 34 daily posts recorded two years ago. The president is also known for his late-night activity, frequently posting between midnight and 5 a.m. local US time.
Medical assessments
White House physician Sean Barbabella has said Trump remains mentally sharp. In a three-page summary released last May, Barbabella said the president had scored a perfect 30 out of 30 on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment.
“The president’s cognitive and physical performance is excellent,” the physician added.
The newspaper also points to Trump’s growing tendency to make inappropriate remarks. His focus on men’s physical characteristics has become particularly conspicuous in recent months, with comments directed at several Republican senators, including John Husted of Ohio and Tim Scott of South Carolina.
Although Trump has long been known for public outbursts of anger on a scale unmatched by any other US president, he appears increasingly inclined toward aggressive confrontations. He has been lashing out at journalists so frequently that he often barely waits for them to finish their questions before calling them “sick” and ordering them to “be quiet.”
On Thursday, when a reporter asked whether he had canceled a trip to Kansas because he was tired of traveling, Trump attacked the journalist’s appearance.
“You’re disgusting! Get your appearance better. You look terrible,” he said.
Analysis methodology
The New York Times said its analysis of Trump’s rhetorical patterns was based on measuring his use of categorical language and profanities, with the newspaper tracking the frequency of key words across different periods of his presidency and presidential campaigns.
To identify confusing and disjointed passages, the newspaper used an artificial intelligence model to assess more than 6,500 excerpts from his speeches. The model was given detailed instructions based on the newspaper’s previous reporting analyzing Trump’s speech and public remarks.
Source: Agencies (translated and edited by Al-Manar)