How Trump talks — marketing or madness?
Is former US president Donald Trump’s distinctive way of speaking deliberate, carefully thought-out and part of some kind of long-term rapport-building plan? Or is it the output of a mind that can’t rein itself in? I suspected the latter but I decided to allow for the benefit of the doubt and investigate, so that you wouldn’t have to. You’re welcome.
There are seven linguistic devices typical of what I now call Trumpian idiolect*:
- Exaggeration
- Repetition
- Directness
- Fragmentation
- Digression
- Simplicity
- Sales lingo
*An idiolect is not the language of idiots but an idiosyncratic form of language that is unique to an individual[1]. I promise.
But first
Both sides of the Is-Trump-Wise-Or-Wacko? debate present cogent assertions.
The “Trump’s a genius!” faction assert that he’s strategic in his use of language, using intensifiers (“the greatest trade deal in the history of trade deals”), memorable fragments (“Jobs. Tremendous jobs.”) and promotional talk (“Get in on the ground floor…”) to connect with his audience.
The “Trump’s a nut job!” faction points to self-interruption (“it’s going to be fantastic — no, I mean unbelievable…”), departures from the theme (“We’re talking about healthcare but let me say this about immigration…”) and asides (“By the way, folks, the fake news media is here”) as symptomatic of a concentration problem.
He’s different
Like him or hate him, Trump is a unique politician because he doesn’t speak like one. He sounds like your next-door neighbour: bombastic yet relatable.
Academically described as “rhetoric that rarely pierces mainstream political discourse[2]”, Trumpian idiolect is rare in formal public speeches, which are usually written, rehearsed and read from a teleprompter. This has helped him to build a brand as someone strong, honest and able to get the job done.
Let’s take a look at the highlights to see what we can glean from Trump in the form of language lessons — or to confirm that his mouth is just a vehicle for word vomit.
Device #1: Exaggeration
To Trump, things are either terrible or amazing: “This is going to be the biggest, the best, the most incredible infrastructure bill you’ve ever seen[3]”.
He takes bold and uncompromising stances, conveys confidence and self-assuredness (both persuasive qualities in a leader), and distils complex topics into easily digestible soundbites. As a ‘celeb’, he knows that exaggerated statements, sensation and controversy tend to attract media attention. Remember when he described Syrian president Bashar al-Assad as a “bad guy, very bad guy[4]”?
Granted, many of his claims are nonsense — such as “Nobody has done more for the Black community than Donald Trump” and “Nobody in history has been through the scrutiny that I have” — but he’s “the most honest and honorable man in the world[5]”.
Device #2: Repetition
When Trump wants to make a point, he makes it multiple times: “I will tell you this, and I can say it with certainty, that I will be the greatest jobs president God ever created. I will be, and I mean this, the greatest jobs president God ever created[6].” You’ll also have encountered numerous iterations of “We’re going to win so much, you’re going to be so tired of winning.”
Repetition has important functions. It’s used for emphasis, to express solidarity with or validation of another point of view, to link ideas and to aid in memory. Plus, it builds trust with listeners.
Or does it? Consider this from Trump’s 2015 Charlottesville press conference: “I didn’t wait long. I didn’t wait long. I didn’t wait long. I wanted to make sure, unlike most politicians, that what I said was correct. Not make a quick statement. The statement I made on Saturday, the first statement, was a fine statement…[7]”
Device #3: Directness
Trump has expressed criticism of his opponents, religious groups, developing countries, the disabled, the “woke”, and women[8], in ways that would have been wholly unacceptable for those who went before him. How does he get away with it?
He says whatever he thinks his base will agree with and then spins any resulting negativity instead of defending against it. If he’s accused of racism, he says he’s pro-security. If he’s accused of sexism, he says he rejects imposed political correctness. After all, being transgender is apparently a concept that the “radical left” manufactured “just a few years ago[9]”.
Conveniently, Trump is also loudly contemptuous of the genre of political speechmaking: “Everybody falls asleep, listening to the same old stuff, the same old lies[10]”.
Whatever the issue, Trumpian idiolect puts complex things into terms that are kinder to his brand. Consider the warning during his CPAC speech[11] in the context of Russia and Ukraine that, “[without me], you’re gonna have World War 3.”
Device #4: Fragmentation
Fragments, which are incomplete sentences or phrases, serve to convey ideas quickly and emphatically, capturing attention and creating a sense of urgency. Because sentence fragments are natural and common in everyday speech, regardless of language and the speaker’s geographical origin, social class or educational background, they tend to have universal appeal.
Trump’s “America first”, “Great things”, “You’ll see” and even “No collusion!” during the Russia investigation all tap into the fundamental way humans communicate. Further, when he starts a sentence and allows his followers to finish it, he’s using a call-and-response technique that creates intimacy. Take a look:
- Trump: “We’re going to build a wall, a big, beautiful wall, and Mexico is going to…[12]”
- Audience: “Pay for it!”
Device #5: Digression
Trumpian idiolect is marked by sudden switches of theme: He rallies his audiences through impassioned conversation, even if this doesn’t follow a clear narrative arc.
While topic change in the middle of a sentence is something people do in conversation, it was unusual coming from a president. Also, his divergence is notable, linguists explain[13], because he does it more often than the average person.
In an interview about foreign policy, Trump shifted from international relations to crowd size at his inauguration[14]:
- Interviewer: “Mr President, let’s talk about North Korea.”
- Trump: “Absolutely, but you know, my inauguration crowd was the biggest ever. People don’t give me enough credit for that.”
During a 2019 rally, he went from discussing border security to the Oscars[15]:
- Trump: “We need to secure our borders, folks. Speaking of borders, did you see the Oscars last night? It’s a total disaster over there.”
Device #6: Simplicity
Trump is known for choosing short standard words such as “win”, “sad”, “huge”, “strong” and “smart” and using simple declarative sentences to explain complex issues: “We’re doing a great job with taxes.”
In an analysis of the spoken content that made up his first 30 000 words in presidential office, he was found to be speaking at a Grade 4 level[16]. Compare this to Barack Obama, who communicated at a Grade 9 level, and George W Bush, who reached a Grade 7 level[17]. Into 2022, Trump’s speeches continued to maintain a Grade 4–6 level[18], mirroring mainstream dialogue and ensuring broad accessibility.
The syntactical structure used by Trump, seen as familiar by many Americans, has allowed him to position himself as a sought-after anti-establishment figure; a leader who understands the concerns and priorities of everyday citizens.
Device #7: Sales lingo
With 50 years of sales experience, Trump leverages sales lingo just like advertisers do. Instead of relying on logic, he tries to make people feel emotional by using words and phrases that are rooted in persuasive techniques.
For instance, he frames policies and ideas as “deals” or “offers” and uses urgency to drive action[19]: “This [initiative] is a game-changer”; “You can’t afford to miss out”; “Grab it now before it’s gone.”
Many of his most famous catchphrases, such as “Believe me” and “Many people are saying”, are evidence of a sales principle called “justified belief”. With these, he suggests that he has the expertise and insights for his position to be true, even if he goes on to say something baseless. This makes his claims sound more trustworthy, because he’s implying direct experience with the issues on the table.
Bottom line
Half the world thinks Trump sounds like a bumbling idiot, while the other half sees him as savvy and authentic. Me? While I don’t think his unique brand of oratory is the result of a calculated marketing strategy, and I reject the idea of a game plan beyond the mumbo-jumbo, I do recognise that he’s recalibrated what we think of as “presidential”. And it’s worked, at least once so far.
In diverging from the old rules of statesmanlike rhetoric in favour of his own bizarre methods, Trump has seized, and continues to seize, widespread attention. His people love him for it. Good luck to them — and, indeed, to all of us.
This article first appeared on MarkLives #WritersBlock on 30 November 2023.
[1] https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/mind-guest-blog/the-idiolect-of-donald-trump/
[2] https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/college-artslaw/cels/essays/appliedlinguistics/McClay2017.Trump-Speech-Discourse-Analaysis.pdf
[3] https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-rebuilding-americas-infrastructure-faster-better-stronger-atlanta-ga/
[4] http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1512/16/ctw.01.html
[5] https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/donald-trump-indictment-latest-news-arrest-stormy-daniels-live-zhd92fcsp
[6] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2015/jun/16/donald-trump-us-president-republicans-video
[7] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/15/donald-trump-charlottesville-trump-tower-white-supremacists
[8] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844022005448
[9] https://thehill.com/homenews/3839471-trump-vows-to-punish-doctors-hospitals-that-provide-gender-affirming-care-to-transgender-minors/
[10] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/09/15/an-amazing-donald-trump-word-salad/
[11] https://www.indy100.com/politics/donald-trump-cpac-2023-quotes
[12] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W989sqwb4jg
[13] https://www.vox.com/2016/8/18/12423688/donald-trump-speech-style-explained-by-linguists
[14] https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/27/us/politics/donald-trump-transcript.html
[15] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/29/us/politics/trump-rally-coronavirus.html
[16] https://dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5248567/Trump-speaks-fourth-grade-level-according-new-analysis.html
[17] https://dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5248567/Trump-speaks-fourth-grade-level-according-new-analysis.html
[18] https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/03/02/donald-trump-republican-primary-00014047
[19] https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/20/trump-blog-launches-its-first-newsletter.html
