Donald Trump became widely known during his political career for using nicknames to criticize, insult, or otherwise express commentary about media figures, politicians, and foreign leaders.
The list excludes commonly used hypocorisms such as "Mike" for "Michael" or "Steve" for "Steven", unless they are original to Trump. Nicknames that Trump did not originate are annotated with footnotes.
Domestic political figures
| Nickname | Personal name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sloppy Steve | Steve Bannon | Former White House chief strategist and senior counselor to the president |
| AOC of Tennessee | Aftyn Behn | Tennessee state representative; Democratic candidate for Tennessee's 7th congressional district |
| Crooked Joe | Joe Biden | 46th president of the United States; 47th vice president of the United States; former U.S. senator from Delaware; Trump's opponent who defeated him in the 2020 United States presidential election |
| Joe Hiden' | ||
| Sleepy Joe | ||
| Slow Joe | ||
| Mini Mike | Michael Bloomberg | 108th mayor of New York City; 2020 Democratic presidential candidate; former CEO of Bloomberg L.P. |
| Da Nang Dick | Richard Blumenthal | U.S. senator from Connecticut; 23rd attorney general of Connecticut |
| Fat Alvin | Alvin Bragg | 37th district attorney of New York County |
| Gov. Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown | Jerry Brown | 34th and 39th governor of California; 31st attorney general of California; former secretary of state of California, 6th chair of the California Democratic Party |
| My Bush | George P. Bush | 28th land commissioner of Texas |
| Low Energy Jeb | Jeb Bush | 43rd governor of Florida; 2016 Republican presidential candidate |
| Alfred E. Neuman | Pete Buttigieg | Former mayor of South Bend, Indiana; 19th U.S. secretary of transportation; 2020 Democratic presidential candidate |
| Coco Chow | Elaine Chao | 24th U.S. secretary of labor and 18th U.S. secretary of transportation |
| Low IQ War Hawk | Liz Cheney | Vice-Chair of the House January 6 Committee; former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wyoming |
| Sloppy Chris Christie | Chris Christie | 55th governor of New Jersey, former United States attorney for the District of New Jersey, 2016 and 2024 Republican presidential candidate |
| Crazy Hillary | Hillary Clinton | Former first lady of the United States; former U.S. secretary of state; former U.S. senator from New York; Trump's opponent whom he defeated in the 2016 United States presidential election |
| Crooked Hillary | ||
| Beautiful Hillary (used only after 2016 election victory) | ||
| Leakin' James Comey | James Comey | Former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation fired by Trump; former United States deputy attorney general; former United States acting attorney general |
| Lyin' James Comey | ||
| Shadey James Comey | ||
| Slimeball James Comey | ||
| Slippery James Comey | ||
| Liddle' Bob Corker | Bob Corker | Former U.S. senator from Tennessee |
| Lyin' Ted (retired) | Ted Cruz | Former solicitor general of Texas; U.S. senator from Texas; 2016 Republican presidential candidate |
| Rob | Ron DeSantis | 46th governor of Florida; 2024 Republican presidential candidate |
| Ron DeSanctimonious (retired) | ||
| Ron DeSanctus | ||
| Meatball Ron (denied by Trump) | ||
| Tiny D | ||
| Ditzy DeVos | Betsy DeVos | 11th U.S. secretary of education; former chair of the Michigan Republican Party |
| Sneaky Dianne | Dianne Feinstein | Former senator from California |
| Jeff Flakey | Jeff Flake | Former U.S. senator from Arizona; former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona |
| Al Frankenstein | Al Franken | Former senator from Minnesota |
| Birdbrain | Nikki Haley | 116th governor of South Carolina; 29th United States ambassador to the United Nations; 2024 Republican presidential candidate |
| Comrade Kamala | Kamala Harris | 49th vice president of the United States; former U.S. senator from California; 32nd attorney general of California; Trump's opponent whom he defeated in the 2024 United States presidential election |
| Crazy Kamala | ||
| Laffin' Kamala | ||
| Lyin' Kamala Harris | ||
| Kamabla | ||
| Aida Hutchinson | Asa Hutchinson | 46th governor of Arkansas; 2024 Republican presidential candidate |
| Peekaboo | Letitia James | 67th attorney general of New York |
| Big Jim | Jim Justice | United States senator from West Virginia; 36th governor of West Virginia |
| 1 for 38 | John Kasich | 69th governor of Ohio; 2016 Republican presidential candidate; former U.S. representative from Ohio's 12th district |
| 1 for 44 | ||
| Junior | Robert F. Kennedy Jr. | 2024 independent presidential candidate, 26th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services |
| My Little Communist | Zohran Mamdani | Mayor-elect of New York City. Member of the New York State Assembly from the 36th district |
| Liddle' Communist | ||
| Mamdani the Commie | ||
| Rand Paul Jr. | Thomas Massie | U.S. representative for Kentucky's 4th congressional district |
| Mad Dog | James Mattis | 26th U.S. secretary of defense |
| My Kevin | Kevin McCarthy | Former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; former House minority leader; former House majority leader |
| Broken Old Crow | Mitch McConnell | U.S. senator from Kentucky; former Senate majority leader; former Senate minority leader |
| Cocaine Mitch | ||
| Evan McMuffin | Evan McMullin | Former Central Intelligence Agency operations officer; 2016 independent presidential candidate |
| Weird Stephen | Stephen Miller | White House deputy chief of staff for policy and United States homeland security advisor. |
| Fat Jerry | Jerry Nadler | U.S. representative for New York's 12th congressional district; ranking member and former chair of the House Judiciary Committee |
| Wacky Omarosa | Omarosa Manigault Newman | Former The Apprentice contestant; aide to Trump |
| My Peter | Peter Navarro | Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing; former director of the White House National Trade Council; former director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy |
| Governor Newscum | Gavin Newsom | 40th governor of California; 49th lieutenant governor of California; 42nd mayor of San Francisco |
| Slimy Newscum | ||
| Evita | Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez | U.S. representative from New York |
| The Mouse | ||
| Stupid AOC | ||
| Big Fat Slob | JB Pritzker | 43rd Governor of Illinois |
| Crazy Nancy | Nancy Pelosi | 52nd speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; former House minority leader |
| Nervous Nancy | ||
| Liddle Mike Pence | Mike Pence | 48th vice president of the United States, 2024 Republican presidential candidate |
| My Mike | Mike Pompeo | Former director of the Central Intelligence Agency and 70th U.S. secretary of state |
| Mr. Too Late | Jerome Powell | 16th chair of the Federal Reserve |
| Jerome Too Late Powell | ||
| Wacky Jacky | Jacky Rosen | U.S. senator from Nevada, former U.S. representative from Nevada's 3rd congressional district |
| Mr. Peepers (denied by Trump) | Rod Rosenstein | Former United States deputy attorney general |
| Little Marco | Marco Rubio | U.S. secretary of state in the 2nd Trump administration; former U.S. senator from Florida; former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives; 2016 Republican presidential candidate |
| Crazy Bernie | Bernie Sanders | U.S. senator from Vermont; 2016 and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate |
| Little Ben Sasse | Ben Sasse | Former U.S. senator from Nebraska |
| Liddle' Adam Schiff | Adam Schiff | U.S. senator from California; former U.S. representative for California's 28th congressional district; chair of House Intelligence Committee; former California State Senator |
| Adam Schitt | ||
| Pencil Neck | ||
| Shifty Schiff | ||
| Watermelon Head | ||
| Cryin' Chuck | Chuck Schumer | U.S. senator from New York and Senate minority leader; former Senate majority leader; a Jew |
| Fake Tears Chuck Schumer | ||
| Our Great Palestinian Senator | ||
| Mr. Magoo (denied by Trump) | Jeff Sessions | 84th U.S. attorney general; former U.S. senator from Alabama; former attorney general of Alabama |
| Deranged Jack Smith | Jack Smith | Special counsel in both cases involving the federal prosecution of Donald Trump |
| Weirdo Tom Steyer | Tom Steyer | Businessman; 2020 Democratic presidential candidate |
| Big Luther | Luther Strange | Former U.S. senator from Alabama; 47th attorney general of Alabama |
| Wacky Marjorie | Marjorie Taylor Greene | U.S. representative for Georgia's 14th congressional district |
| Marjorie Taylor Brown | ||
| Marjorie Traitor Green [sic] | ||
| Marjorie Traitor Brown | ||
| Tampon Tim | Tim Walz | 41st governor of Minnesota; Democratic nominee for Vice President in the 2024 United States presidential election. |
| The Seriously Retarded Governor of Minnesota | ||
| Goofy Elizabeth Warren | Elizabeth Warren | U.S. senator from Massachusetts; 2020 Democratic presidential candidate |
| Pocahontas | ||
| Low-IQ Maxine Waters | Maxine Waters | U.S. representative for California's 43rd congressional district |
| Ice Maiden | Susie Wiles | 32nd White House chief of staff |
Foreign leaders
| Nickname | Personal name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Animal Assad | Bashar al-Assad | 18th president of Syria |
| President B | Nayib Bukele | 81st president of El Salvador |
| Mr. Japan | Shigeru Ishiba | 80th prime minister of Japan |
| Rocket Man | Kim Jong Un | 3rd supreme leader of North Korea |
| Little Rocket Man | ||
| Juan Trump | Andrés Manuel López Obrador | 65th president of Mexico |
| Publicity Seeking Emmanuel Macron | Emmanuel Macron | President of France |
| Johnny | Mohammed bin Salman | Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and 6th Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia |
| Governor Trudeau | Justin Trudeau | 23rd prime minister of Canada |
Media figures
| Nickname | Personal name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Liddle' Peter Baker | Peter Baker | Chief White House correspondent for The New York Times |
| Crazy Mika Brzezinski | Mika Brzezinski | Co-host of Morning Joe; wife of Joe Scarborough |
| Dumb as a Rock Mika | ||
| Low I.Q. Crazy Mika | ||
| Kooky Tucker Carlson | Tucker Carlson | Former host of Tucker Carlson Tonight; Host of The Tucker Carlson Show podcast |
| Dopey Graydon Carter | Graydon Carter | Former editor of Vanity Fair |
| Allison Cooper | Anderson Cooper | Host of CNN's Anderson Cooper 360° |
| Fredo | Chris Cuomo | Former host of Cuomo Prime Time on CNN; Host of Cuomo on NewsNation |
| Maggot Hagerman | Maggie Haberman | American journalist, White House correspondent for The New York Times. |
| Crazy Megyn | Megyn Kelly | Host of The Megyn Kelly Show, former host of The Kelly File and Megyn Kelly Today |
| Marble Mouth Meyers | Seth Meyers | Host of Late Night with Seth Meyers |
| Washed Up Psycho Bette Midler | Bette Midler | Film Actress |
| Sloppy Michael Moore | Michael Moore | Filmmaker and political documentarian |
| Morning Psycho | Joe Scarborough | Co-host of Morning Joe; former U.S. representative from Florida; husband of Mika Brzezinski |
| Psycho Joe | ||
| Lil' George | George Stephanopoulos | Chief anchor and chief political correspondent of ABC News; former White House communications director and senior advisor to President Bill Clinton |
| George Slopadopolus | ||
| Fake Tapper | Jake Tapper | Host of The Lead with Jake Tapper on CNN |
| Sleepy Eyes | Chuck Todd | Former moderator of Meet the Press |
| Little Katy | Katy Tur | Correspondent for MSNBC; author |
| Lyin' Brian | Brian Williams | Former anchor of NBC Nightly News; former host of The 11th Hour |
| Little Jeff Zucker | Jeff Zucker | Former president of CNN Worldwide |
Groups of people
| Nickname | Group members | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 13 Angry Democrats | Names of attorneys
| Attorneys working on Robert Mueller's investigation of potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. The press identified thirteen of the seventeen attorneys as either being registered to vote as Democrats or making contributions to Democratic candidates. Those not identified as such are denoted with a star(★). It is unclear whether this was the criterion Trump used to distinguish 13 out of 17 individuals since Trump did not detail which thirteen individuals he included in the nickname. |
| 17 Angry Democrats | ||
| AOC Plus 3 | The Squad (2018–2021): Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Ilhan Omar Ayanna Pressley Rashida Tlaib | Informal political grouping of four Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives elected in 2018 |
| Biden crime family | Family of Joe Biden | Joe Biden, the 46th president of the United States, and his family |
| No Talent | Stephen Colbert Jimmy Fallon Jimmy Kimmel Seth Meyers | Hosts of Late Night talk shows. Trump has been attacking late night hosts over his alleged claim on their "negative" views about him in their respective opening monologues. |
| Untalented Late Night Sweepstakes | ||
| Zero Talent |
Other people
| Nickname | Personal name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Jeff Bozo | Jeff Bezos | Businessman, former president and CEO of Amazon |
| Horseface | Stormy Daniels | Pornographic actress whom Trump paid to cover up an alleged affair |
| Bob | Kid Rock | Musician |
| Little Mac Miller | Mac Miller | Rapper; released the song "Donald Trump" in 2011, which caused Trump and Miller to feud for years, with Trump demanding royalties since Miller used his name |
| Dopey Sugar | Lord Sugar | British business magnate and politician; host of the BBC reality competition series The Apprentice |
| Tim Apple | Tim Cook | Businessman, CEO of Apple |
Organizations
| Nickname | Official name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Americans for No Prosperity | Americans for Prosperity | Libertarian conservative political advocacy group |
| Globalist's Club for NO Growth | Club for Growth | Conservative organization |
| Clinton News Network | CNN | Multinational cable news channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery |
| Fake News CNN | ||
| Low ratings CNN | ||
| Democrat Party | Democratic Party | American political party |
| Radical Left Democrats | ||
| Lincoln Pervert Project | The Lincoln Project | Political action committee working against the reelection of Trump, which targets conservatives |
| Failing Forbes Magazine | Forbes | American business magazine |
| MSDNC | MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) | American news-based pay television cable channel owned by Versant |
| Failing New York Times | The New York Times | Newspaper |
| Amazon The Washington Post | The Washington Post | Newspaper owned by Jeff Bezos, founder and former CEO of Amazon |
| The Washington ComPost | ||
| Unselect Committee | United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack | A select committee of the U.S. House of Representatives to investigate the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 |
| Concast | Comcast | American multinational telecommunications and media conglomerate |
| ABC Fake News | ABC News | News division of ABC owned by the Walt Disney Company |
Television programs
| Nickname | Official name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Deface the Nation | Face the Nation | A weekly political talk show on CBS |
| Meet the Fake Press | Meet the Press | A weekly talk show on NBC |
| Meet the Depressed |
Other
| Nickname | Common name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| A very stable genius | Donald Trump | Self-epithet, antonomasia. Trump repeatedly described himself as "a very stable genius" from 2018 through 2019. A Very Stable Genius, a 2020 book by Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig about Trump's first presidency used the nickname. |
| Green New Scam | Green New Deal | A congressional resolution sponsored by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey that addressed climate and economic policy. |
| The N-Word | Nuclear power and nuclear weapons | The use of nuclear fission or nuclear fusion as an explosive device, or to generate heat and electricity; typically referred to as simply "nuclear" by Trump. |
| Kung Flu | SARS-CoV-2 | A virus whose first case was diagnosed in China. |
| Chinese Virus | ||
| China virus |
Sleepy Joe
Sleepy Joe is a nickname describing Joe Biden, the 46th president of the United States, coined and used by those who opposed his presidency, which became an Internet meme. The nickname was originally coined in 2019 by Biden's predecessor and successor, Donald Trump. It appeared after the publication of a number of media memes, where Biden allegedly falls asleep during a television interview. The nickname hints at Biden's possible physical and mental inability to perform the duties of president.
History
On April 25, 2019, United States president Donald Trump tweeted, "Welcome to the race, Sleepy Joe." Biden responded by calling Trump a "clown". During the 2020 presidential election, including the final campaign debates, Trump generally mocked his opponent Biden repeatedly, calling him "Sleepy Joe".
During the 2020 presidential election, including the final election debate, Trump repeatedly trolled his opponent Joe Biden, calling him "Sleepy Joe".[citation needed] Thus, in one of his pre-election speeches in Wisconsin on November 2, 2020, Trump referred to his rival Joe Biden as "Sleepy Joe", "Sleepy Biden", demonstrating his failure as a political leader.
In June 2020, reports surfaced that Trump had recently asked advisors whether he should stick with his current nickname for Biden, "Sleepy Joe", or try to come up with another nickname, such as "Swampy Joe" or "Creepy Joe". It has been noted that Trump is not convinced that "Sleepy Joe" is particularly "dangerous", and some of his advisers agreed and urged him to stop using the nickname. In one tweet, Trump stated another nickname for Biden: "Corrupt Joe".
Trump has criticized Biden, saying he "has been in politics for 40 years and done nothing", describing him as "politically weak" and claiming Trump has done more in 3.5 years for black people than Biden did in 43 years. Reinforcing his war against "radical-left democrats", Trump seized on popular calls to "protect the police" and falsely attributed them to "Sleepy Joe". He also claimed that Biden "doesn't know where he is or what he's doing", "he's asleep", and that Biden held a rally that "hardly anyone showed up for".
According to Google Trends, the nickname "Sleepy Joe" was quite popular in 2020-2021.
Analysis
The nickname "Sleepy Joe" is a pejorative anthroponym. It is used by Trump to create a "political boundary of antagonism against Biden". The adjective "sleepy" also demonstrates the same process of modifying the noun "Joe Biden" in a political, rather than semantic or pragmatic, way. The phrase "Sleepy Joe Biden" does not refer to Joe Biden still being sleepy due to lack of sleep; rather, it is a core structure of antagonism that creates the meaning "Joe Biden is unworthy of being President of the United States". This form of constructing political and antagonistic meaning is common to various core structures of antagonism in Trump's political discourse. In his antagonistic discourse, Trump demonstrates a process of cognitive control.
In The Lancet magazine, academics and doctors drew attention to the fact that the nicknames "Sleepy Joe" and "crazy" demonstrate how mental health problems can be misinterpreted and used as a tool; this is especially true in the Americas, where stigmatization of such diseases exists.
Trump likely used this nickname because, at the time, Biden was very old (he was 77 years old during the debates) or because Trump considered Biden to be slow and mentally impaired, incompetent, or prone to uncontrollably falling asleep during events. The nickname may imply the nominee's slowness and mental lethargy, his inability to think and react quickly.
"Sleepy Joe" might also allude to a song of the same name, where the hero is gently chastised for his laziness. It can be classified as a personal attack. Trump may be attempting to weaken Joe Biden's character by depriving him of the ability to speak normally due to a speech impediment. This is more of an emotional appeal than an appeal to character, because Trump's goal may be to create humor.
See also
- List of nicknames used by George W. Bush
- List of nicknames of presidents of the United States
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