Published : 28 Sep 2026, 12:06 AM
Updated : 28 Sep 2026, 12:06 AM
Donald Trump has increasingly used profanity in public speeches, interviews and social media posts, prompting debate over changing standards of political language, The Guardian reports.
The British daily noted that Trump broke with previous presidential norms when he used an expletive while criticising Israel and Iran in June 2025. He later used similar language when discussing Venezuela’s then-president Nicolas Maduro.
Trump’s use of profanity has also appeared in social media posts. In April, amid tensions over the Strait of Hormuz, he wrote: “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell.”
Michael Adams, an Indiana University Bloomington professor and author of a study on swearing, told The Guardian that Trump’s language can serve as an “emphatic diplomatic persona” while reinforcing his image as unpredictable and unconcerned with convention.
The Guardian reported this trend has extended beyond Trump.
Vice-president JD Vance has used profanity in speeches and online, while Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has also used coarse language when criticising practices he opposes.
Democratic politicians have similarly adopted stronger language.
Joseph Phillips, an American politics professor at Trinity College Dublin, said declining public trust had created incentives for politicians to appear more relatable.
Using everyday language, including profanity, can help politicians present themselves as authentic, he told The Guardian.
Benjamin Bergen, a cognitive science professor at the University of California, San Diego, said the changing political climate could eventually bring profanity into settings where it was previously unthinkable. “I think the language norms are just changing.”
