What Does Donald Trump’s Rhetoric Mean?

Authors

• Richard Holtzman, Bryant UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Keywords

Donald Trump; Trump presidency; presidential rhetoric

Publisher

Utica College Center of Public Affairs and Election Research

Rights Management

Author(s) retain copyright.

Abstract

Since his return to the White House in January 2025, President Donald Trump has routinely made statements which many commentators, and many Americans more generally, have found outrageous. These include comments, among many others, about the United States turning Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East,” annexing Canada as the 51st American state, and sending “homegrown” criminals to an El Salvadorian terrorism prison center without constitutional due process. How should we make sense of this presidential rhetoric?