AI Finds Trump’s “Simple and Divisive” Language Is Unique Among Past US Presidents

When Donald Trump approaches the microphone, his words often make waves. Whether he’s delivering the State of the Union speech or arguing in a debate, there’s no doubt that his style is absolutely his own. So what exactly makes it different? A new study has been published PNAS Port examines this question in depth, using the power of machine learning to analyze decades of presidential speeches. What they found was striking. Trump’s speech differs in that he uses direct and short sentences, is blunt, and frequently uses hostility, marking a sharp shift in presidential communication.

A Closer Look at the President’s Speech Patterns

The research team, led by Chenhao Tan, an assistant professor at the University of Chicago and director of the Chicago Human+AI laboratory, wanted to understand what exactly makes Trump’s rhetoric so unique and appealing to the masses (or at least half of the voting population) . How his rhetoric compares to other presidents.

“We were interested in how large language models could help us understand and measure presidential discourse. One of the noticeable phenomena is the uniqueness of Trump’s speeches, and this study allows us to answer this question quantitatively,” Tan explained in an interview with PsyPost.

To create a comprehensive view, the team examined 35 debate transcripts, 67 State of the Union addresses and 187 campaign speeches by U.S. presidents since 1960. By applying machine learning to these recordings, they developed a measure of “uniqueness” to capture differences in language. style. Using broad language models not too different from those used by ChatGPT, they analyzed how each president’s word choice differed not only from each other but also from typical language patterns within their respective political parties.

Trump’s Style: Simple and Divisive Language

One striking feature that emerges from the data is Trump’s reliance on shorter, more direct sentences across all types of speech. This trend, consistent from campaign rallies to official speeches, contrasted sharply with the more nuanced and measured language often associated with his predecessors. Researchers found that Trump’s language tends toward simplicity and repetition. And this combination not only makes his message easier to understand, but also increases its impact.

But Trump’s words do more than simplify his message. The study revealed a lexicon of separatism consisting of 178 words such as “corrupt,” “stupid” and “disgraced” that are commonly used to belittle or discredit opponents. The research team measured how often each president used these terms, and Trump’s rhetoric appeared to be particularly loaded with them.

“Donald Trump’s political rhetoric is unique among modern presidents and is defined in part by his use of hostile language, especially when directed at political rivals,” Tan said.

Indeed, Trump’s style differs significantly from other Republican presidents; This shows that his rhetoric is not just a change within party lines, but a completely different type of discourse, one that is sure to be copied by others in the future.

The words he uses when discussing his opponents often contain unique descriptors that frame his opponents in harshly negative terms. Researchers suggest this may contribute to a growing atmosphere of division in public discourse.

Beyond Party Lines: A Unique Rhetorical Approach

What the study highlights is that Trump’s confrontational language is not just an expression of political differences, but part of a larger trend toward personalization in politics. While other presidents have occasionally used emotionally charged language, Trump’s constant emphasis on divisive terms and direct attacks on opponents have made him a unique outlier.

“We expected Trump to not feature prominently in the State of the Union speeches as these speeches are more standard,” Tan said. “But these conversations are still very different. “I was also surprised by how different Trump is from other Republicans.”

While the study reveals some interesting details about Trump’s unique rhetorical style, it is not without its limitations. For example, campaign speech data for previous presidents was harder to obtain, limiting cross-generational comparisons. Additionally, the study focused only on public speeches and excluded social media, where presidents of all persuasions tend to communicate very differently than their official speeches.

Of course, even without the help of artificial intelligence, many researchers have come to similar conclusions in their previous studies. A UCLA working paper titled “Donald Trump’s Words” He examined 99 of Trump’s speeches from 2015 to 2024 and noted increased use of violent language and a shift from economic issues to more divisive rhetoric. The study identified a form of “negative populism” characterized by the frequent use of the pronoun “they” and derogatory terms directed at elites; This suggests that Trump’s language has become more confrontational over time.

Going forward, Tan and his team hope their findings will help the public better understand the language strategies used by presidents. “We hope to help the public make informed decisions in democratic processes,” Tan said, pointing to a website they developed to help visualize these speech patterns: ChicagoHAI Choice NLP.

The findings were reported in the journal PNAS Port.