--- title: Donald Trump Curses More Publicly Than Past Presidents description: Many American politicians have used curse words, but few have done so the way Donald Trump does. canonical: https://time.com/4978212/donald-trump-cursing-swear-words/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-11T19:19:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:49:13.009Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Keeps Cursing. Here's Why It Might Help Him og:description: Research shows it could be strategic og:url: https://time.com/4978212/donald-trump-cursing-swear-words/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32efb025e8eae073/6988e183656a3fd889bd20cd/gettyimages-851838452.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Donald Trump swearing og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Keeps Cursing. Here's Why It Might Help Him twitter:description: Research shows it could be strategic twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32efb025e8eae073/6988e183656a3fd889bd20cd/gettyimages-851838452.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Keeps Cursing. Here's Why It Might Help Him > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Oct 11, 2017 7:19 PM UTC  US President Donald Trump addresses a rally for Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL) at the Von Braun Civic Center September 22, 2017 in Huntsville, Alabama. US President Donald Trump addresses a rally for Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL) at the Von Braun Civic Center September 22, 2017 in Huntsville, Alabama.AFP Contributor—AFP/Getty Images by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Oct 11, 2017 7:19 PM UTC Many American politicians have used curse words, but few have done so the way Donald Trump does. Past presidents have been known to use indecorous language in private talks with their advisors or unguarded moments that were caught on tape, but none have made such dramatic and repeated use of curse words in public events. Speaking at a rally in Alabama in September, Trump [argued](http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/23/media/donald-trump-nfl-protest-backlash/index.html) that NFL players like former San Francisco 49er Colin Kaepernick who take a knee during the national anthem should be fired. “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a b—- off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!'” he said. Of course, other politicians have sworn. Vice President Joe Biden called the Affordable Care Act a [“big f—ing deal”](http://www.slate.com/articles/news%5Fand%5Fpolitics/politics/2010/03/wtf%5Fdid%5Fbiden%5Fjust%5Fsay.html) in a moment picked up by a microphone, while President George W. Bush called a reporter a [“major-league a–hole”](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1821563%5F1821568%5F1821597,00.html) in another hot mic moment. Vice President Dick Cheney once told a Democratic senator to [“go f— yourself,”](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3699-2004Jun24.html) and presidents Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson were [notoriously profane](http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/lists/a-brief-history-of-presidential-profanity-20121210/lyndon-johnson-19691231) while talking with advisors. But those were all private moments. Trump has regularly used curse words at public events, especially on the campaign trail where he sprinkled his speeches liberally with [“damn”](https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/nation/2016/02/04/79853024/) and [“hell”](http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/14/politics/donald-trump-iran-republicans/) and even [“s—“](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-bomb-isis%5Fus%5F56454ccee4b08cda348844bf) and [“p—-.”](http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/268714-trump-calls-cruz-a-puy) In [a notorious speech](http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/04/donald-trump-vegas-profanity-speech/) in Las Vegas in 2011, he dropped the f-word repeatedly, arguing that his message to China would be ““Listen you motherf—ers, we’re going to tax you 25 percent!” Research has [shown](http://time.com/4380189/donald-trump-swearing/) that Trump’s use of swear words could be strategic, helping his image as a truthteller unafraid of being politically incorrect. To learn more about how Trump’s curse words work, watch the video above. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4978212/donald-trump-cursing-swear-words/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4978212/donald-trump-cursing-swear-words/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Keeps Cursing. 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