One year into his second term, President Trump is speaking far more words in public than in the first year of his first term, often in more unscripted settings, and talking less about Obamacare and jobs and more about foreign countries and consumer goods, according to an analysis of data from Roll Call’s Factba.se.
Overall, Mr. Trump has delivered fewer scheduled speeches and prepared remarks, and spoken at fewer news conferences. But he has given more interviews and engaged in nearly six times as many so-called press gaggles, unscheduled remarks made to journalists in passing.
And on average, he has spoken many more words at each event than in 2017, part of a trend of longer, less focused public appearances.
Average number of words spoken at events
Event type20172025News conferences 2,5315,374Interviews 2,9854,414Remarks and speeches 1,2303,980Press ‘gaggles’ (unscheduled) 1,2451,377
Mr. Trump’s aides say his propensity to speak his mind makes him “the most transparent and accessible president in American history.”
Our analysis includes all of Mr. Trump’s available public remarks from his two “first years in office,” in 2017 and 2025. (It doesn’t include Mr. Trump’s activity on social media, where he has primarily posted on his own network, Truth Social, in his second term.)
The results help show some of the ways he has approached his second term differently.
His agenda has shifted
Eight years have passed since Mr. Trump’s first term began, and his priorities have changed. We looked at the words he said most often in the first year of his first term that he never repeated in 2025, and the words he’s saying now that he never said in 2017, according to the data.
Most frequent words that were said in only one of these two years
2017
1.
repeal
2.
collusion
3.
renegotiating
4.
deductibles
5.
accountable
6.
ignored
7.
oppression
8.
simplification
9.
addiction
10.
leaks
2025
1.
inflation
2.
A.I.
3.
eggs
4.
gasoline
5.
autopen
6.
chips
7.
tips
8.
drill
9.
groceries
10.
crypto
Many of the words from 2017 that have not reappeared refer to repealing or revising Obamacare, simplifying the tax code and insisting there was “no collusion” with Russia in the 2016 election.
The most frequent words of 2025 with no record of being mentioned in 2017 relate to pocketbook issues and technology. There is also Mr. Trump’s claim about former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s use of an autopen to sign documents, an assertion Mr. Trump has employed to cast doubt on the legitimacy of Mr. Biden’s official actions.
(It is possible that Mr. Trump uttered one of these words in public when we have no record of it, but Factba.se aims to include every one of his public remarks.)
On the economy, Mr. Trump’s focus on “jobs” has fallen when compared with the first year of his first term, while other terms like “investments” have climbed.
Some common economic terms
Mentions per 100,000 words
word20172025deals 91.9138.4tariffs 3.7112.3jobs 139.228.9investments 16.825.4
He also frequently mentions specific companies and products. He is still talking a lot about the news media, defense contractors and automobile manufacturers, but he is talking a lot more about sectors like big tech and pharmaceuticals than he did in 2017.
Specific companies and products
Mentions per 100,000 words
Industry20172025Media CNN, The New York Times, Fox, …25.624.8Technology Apple, Nvidia, Intel, …11.519.4Aerospace and defense Boeing, Lockheed Martin, …16.414.3Automakers Ford, General Motors, Toyota, …17.710.9Pharmaceuticals Eli Lilly, Pfizer, …1.77.0Industry and manufacturing U.S. Steel, Nippon, …5.16.4Social media TikTok, Twitter/X, Truth Social, …2.45.3Finance SoftBank, Goldman Sachs, …2.62.5Retail Walmart, Home Depot, …1.22.2Energy Exxon-Mobil, Con Edison, …1.71.5Cryptocurrency Bitcoin, Coinbase, …0.01.4
Mr. Trump’s references have been shaped by his priorities and the people in his orbit. In the roughly first six months of the year, during which Elon Musk oversaw the Department of Government Efficiency, Mr. Trump mentioned Tesla 20 times. In the second half of the year, after Mr. Musk left the White House, he mentioned Tesla only twice.
He’s more concerned with foreign countries
Mr. Trump’s mentions of other countries have increased significantly compared with 2017 amid wars, tariffs and the capture of the leader of Venezuela.
Mentions of foreign countries
He still talks about China the most (and more than he did in 2017). He has also talked more about Ukraine, Iran, Israel and Venezuela amid conflicts or military actions there. Notably, his mentions of Mexico have fallen.
Most frequently mentioned countries
Mentions per 100,000 words
country20172025China 51.776.3Ukraine 4.136.0Iran 15.432.3Canada 11.726.7Israel 18.523.4India 3.819.9Japan 17.016.3Mexico 26.215.3Saudi Arabia 7.711.9Venezuela 5.211.3
(Taken together, Greenland and Denmark ranked 16th in 2025.)
This heightened international focus even extends to the companies he’s mentioning. In the first year of his second term, Mr. Trump has mentioned many foreign automakers that he rarely or never mentioned in 2017, while talking less than he did about the Big Three domestic automakers: Ford, General Motors and Chrysler, part of Stellantis.
Total mentions of auto companies
Industry20172025General Motors 4330Toyota 828Ford 5428Honda 023Tesla 022BMW 016Volkswagen 015Hyundai 115Mercedes-Benz 014Chrysler/Stellantis 3313Nissan 05Ferrari 03Great Wall Motor 01Jaguar 01Volvo 11
He’s using even more superlatives
Mr. Trump’s language has also grown more hyperbolic. In his second term, he has applied explicit judgments across the board, both good and bad.
Use of superlatives and strong adjectives
Occurrences per 100,000 words
word20172025best 42.747.6biggest 24.744.3terrible 26.136.9greatest 22.835.5horrible 29.333.6worst 11.825.5largest 13.316.0
He brings up Joe Biden a lot
The president’s concern with his predecessor has been a hallmark of this term, with Mr. Trump pinning many of the country’s problems on Mr. Biden.
In the first year of his second term, he has mentioned Mr. Biden over eight times as much as he mentioned former President Barack Obama in 2017.
