Two days before the midterm elections, a new review of President Donald Trump’s public remarks paints a striking picture: at 80, he is talking far longer, swearing far more, and wandering off-track far more often than he did when he first ran for the White House.
The analysis, published Sunday by The New York Times, was conducted by chief White House correspondent Peter Baker and A.I. projects editor Dylan Freedman, who produced a similar review in 2024. They examined Trump’s speeches, interviews and social media posts from 2015 to now, and concluded that he is “more profane, more absolutist, longer-winded and less coherent than he was in 2016.”
Speeches that run twice as long
The average length of a Trump speech has nearly doubled, from about 42 minutes a decade ago to roughly 85 minutes today.
And the rambling has grown with it. Since the start of his second term, the frequency of rambling or hard-to-follow remarks has climbed to about two and a half times the level of his 2016 campaign rallies.
The Times opened with a telling example. At a recent campaign rally in Greenville, North Carolina, Trump told the story of the Willie Horton crime case that damaged Democrat Michael Dukakis’s 1988 presidential campaign. Then, about 30 minutes later, at the same rally, to the same audience, from the same lectern, he told the same story all over again.
More swearing, more “always” and “never”
Trump’s profanity has more than doubled over the past decade. He now uses about 15 swear words per 10,000 words, compared with about 6 a decade ago and 14 in 2024.
His use of black-and-white, all-or-nothing words such as “always,” “never” and “completely” is up 19% compared with 2015, and up 5% from just two years ago. The Times noted that this kind of increase in absolutist language could be related to aging or changes in cognitive function.
Meanwhile, his vocabulary and speaking level stayed about where they were, around a fourth- to fifth-grade level. Presidents typically speak at about an eighth-grade level.
Fewer events, late-night posting sprees
Trump is also doing fewer official events: an average of 1.3 per day now, down from 2.1 in his first term. His social media output averages 21 posts a day, up from 13 in 2016 though down from 34 two years ago.
The late-night habit stands out. Since his second term began, Trump has posted between midnight and 5 a.m. on roughly three out of every ten days, and there have been about 240 instances in which he wrote more than 10 posts in a single hour.
The review also points to recent moments on the campaign trail, including Trump repeatedly praising a Republican candidate’s backside at a midterm event and shouting at a reporter who asked an unwelcome question, telling the reporter to be quiet and saying the reporter wasn’t in their right mind.
“This fall, in nationwide rallies and at the White House, Trump has repeatedly shown behavior that is hard to understand, rekindling questions about his age and stability,” the Times wrote.
The White House pushes back
The White House dismissed the concerns. Spokesperson Davis Ingle said Trump continues to show sharp judgment and unmatched energy, adding that “the American people love the president’s unvarnished and transparent demeanor.” Trump himself has described his freewheeling speaking style as “the weave.”
The findings land as Trump crisscrosses the country in the final days of the campaign, holding rallies Sunday in Iowa and Kansas ahead of Tuesday’s elections, where control of Congress is on the line.
What do you think: should a president’s age and fitness be a bigger part of the conversation? Election Day is Tuesday, so make sure you have a plan to vote.