Trump Butchers a Basic Word, Repeats It Like It’s Correct, and Even MAGA is Embarrassed
President Donald Trump, 79, has a way with words that often leads to constant online ridicule and questions about his I.Q. and thinking.
The latest instance of Trump stumbling through a public address unfolded on Nov. 13 during an executive order signing at the White House. Midway through the speech, he tossed out a word choice that didn’t quite match the moment — and then carried on as if nothing were off at all, leaving viewers wondering what exactly they heard and why no one around corrected him.
Trump was promoting his administration’s “Fostering the Future” initiative, led by first lady Melania Trump. The goal of the executive order is to modernize the country’s foster care system.
“Christians and more, think of this, more than twice as likely [to] foster care, they’ll adopt the general population,” Trump confusingly stated.
The former reality television star continued, “They adopt to it so easily. When they get out, they adopt to it just like it’s become second nature. It’s amazing.”
It appeared the president confused the word “adopt” with “adapt” several times without noticing the mistake. That repeated blunder ignited widespread mockery directed at Trump.
“He sure isn’t adept at using words coherently,” one X user joked in response to a clip of Trump’s most recent word salad.
A second person on the social media app demanded, “Impeach him immediately for this.” A third added, “Embarrassing every single day.”
“Put this old man in a nursing home ASAP. Actually, even better, put him in jail,” expressed a fed-up Trump hater. Over on Threads, an additional detractor suggested, “He failed Hooked on Phonics.”
One post on the platform predicted, “A year from now, he won’t be able to spell his own name.”
Trump has a long history of flubbing words throughout his time as a public figure. Since returning to the White House in 2025, his gaffes have been highlighted even more.
In September, the president had trouble pronouncing “acetaminophen” during a press conference. The internet, comedians, and late-night talk show hosts alike had a field day clowning Trump for mangling the drug term.
@joshjohnsoncomedy The president pronouncing acetaminophen
The following month, Trump went on a tangent about so-called “ocean drugs” and “sea drugs,” causing more complaints that the native New Yorker loves to make up terms and phrases.
He has also been accused of constantly taking credit for inventing words that have already existed. One of his favorite boastful claims is that he popularized “groceries.”
The leader of the Republican Party insisted that it was his embrace of the word “groceries” in the 2024 presidential election that helped him defeat then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I won on groceries. It’s a very simple word – groceries. Like almost… who uses the word? I started using the word,” Trump said in December 2024, following his decisive Electoral College victory.
After his inauguration in January 2025, Trump began saying “equalizing” was a new word, despite Merriam-Webster’s dictionary citing the first use of the term as far back as 1599.
“Basically, what we’re doing is equalizing. There’s a new word that I came up with, which is probably the best word,” Trump uttered in August.
The billionaire businessman recently became fixated with “affordability” in the wake of New York City Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani making cost of living the centerpiece of his winning mayoral campaign.
“You know they have this new word called affordability, and they don’t talk about it enough,” Trump said in a November interview with Fox News.
With three more years left in his presidential term, Trump will likely have many more instances of obvious mispronunciations, false claims of inventing words, and televised strewups.
