The Wildest Nicknames Donald Trump Has Made Up For His Opponents
Of all the ways former President Donald Trump lashes out at his political opponents, few tactics have the same impressively adolescent sheen as his penchant for nicknames. From his critics to reporters to Democrat and Republican adversaries alike, Trump has a knack for turning their names into punchy, condescending monikers that insult their appearance, personality, or professionalism. In some lucky cases, Trump crams all three jabs into one epithet.
For the most part, Trump's nicknames hurt no one but possibly the unfortunate person on the receiving end of his improvised moniker. However, in other cases, the former president's nickname raised nuclear alarm bells, like when he opted to dub North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un "Rocket Man." Trump used this nickname at his first address to the United Nations in September 2017. He continued to use the name in tweets and at other political events.
Trump's public taunts of a dictator with an arsenal of nuclear warheads unsurprisingly put the global community on high alert. Many argued that the ex-POTUS was goading North Korea into a nuclear battle. These concerns seemed validated by Michael Schmidt's "Donald Trump v. The United States," in which the New York Times correspondent reported that even John Kelly, Trump's former chief of staff, was concerned about the president's continued discussion of dropping nuclear weapons on North Korea. Per Schmidt's reporting, Trump wanted to blame the attack on a different country (via NBC).
Broken Old Crow
Despite their initial allegiance to one another, it didn't take long — about one presidential term and some change — for former President Donald Trump to change his tune about Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. After Congress passed President Joe Biden's $1 trillion infrastructure package in 2021, Trump quickly expressed his disdain for the governing body that failed to pass any of his infrastructure legislation while he was in office. The ex-POTUS released a statement (and a new moniker for McConnell) through his spokesperson Liz Harrington.
"Why is that Old Crow Mitch McConnell voted for a terrible Democrat Socialist Infrastructure Plan, and induced others in his Party to do likewise, when he was incapable of getting a great Infrastructure Plan wanting to be put forward by me," Trump said (via X, formerly known as Twitter). Trump workshopped his nickname for McConnell in the months immediately after, adopting new revisions like "broken-down Crow" in a November 2021 statement (via X) and "Broken Old Crow" one month later, also published to Harrington's X account.
Meanwhile, McConnell has said he doesn't mind the nickname. E'er the Kentuckian, McConnell told The Washington Examiner that Old Crow "is my favorite bourbon," adding that Kentucky Rep. Henry Clay also preferred that brand. The minority leader even handed out bottles of Old Crow bourbon at a Kentucky Derby luncheon in May 2022 as a direct reference to the avian nickname.
Pocahontas
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren got herself in hot water — and a new nickname from former President Donald Trump — during her infamous Native American heritage scandal. Evidence of Warren claiming Native American ancestry on professional documents first began circulating in 2012. The Oklahoma native quickly denied that the inclusion of her heritage was used to advance her career and that she was simply proud of her family's lineage.
This would prove to be all the fodder Trump needed to make a nickname for his political opponent. At a Montana rally in July 2018, Trump said, "Let's say I'm debating Pocahontas, right? I promise you I'll do this. I will take — you know those little kits they sell on television for $2. Learn your heritage. I will give you a million dollars to your favorite charity, paid for by Trump, if you take the test so that it shows you're an Indian" (via ABC). Warren did take a DNA test, which revealed evidence of a Native American ancestor six to 10 generations back.
The senator challenged Trump to make his check out to the National Indigenous Women's Resource Center in an October 2018 tweet. But in the end, both of them ate crow (and not the Mitch McConnell kind). Trump denied ever agreeing to donate money to a charity in Warren's honor, and Warren has since apologized to the Indigenous community for claiming her DNA test was proof of Native American heritage.
Ron DeSanctimonious
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell isn't the only friend-turned-foe to former President Donald Trump. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis garnered a similar title when he announced his entry to the 2024 presidential race in a move that Trump — who has a long, outspoken history of crediting himself for DeSantis' political success — considered a personal affront and breach of loyalty. Trump heated up his rivalry with DeSantis in petty response to the governor's presidential bid in the way he knows best: a nickname.
Trump first debuted "Ron DeSanctimonious," his moniker for the Florida governor, at a November 2022 rally. The ex-POTUS then used Ron DeSanctimonious and a misspelled alternative, Ron DeSanctus, several times on his social media platform Truth Social. In a June 2023 interview with Fox News (via Newsweek), Trump explained that his chosen nickname for his ally-turned-opponent was a reference to what he perceives as DeSantis' disloyalty. "I got him elected, and I thought it was very disloyal when he said, 'Yes, I'd run.' I got him past two races. I got him past the primary because he was losing by 30 points or more. It's a loyalty [question]. I'm a big loyalist. He came to me, let's say weeping, because he was dead. As soon as I endorsed him, he won the primary, it was over."
DeSantis told Piers Morgan in March 2023 that he enjoyed the nickname, saying, "It's got a lot of vowels. I mean, we'd go with that. That's fine" (via Newsweek).
Basement Biden
Former President Donald Trump has no shortage of disparaging comments about Joe Biden, his most pressing political opponent. The former president has created a wide range of pseudonyms for Biden, including Sleepy Joe, Crooked Joe, and Creepy Joe. But even these quippy nicknames pale in comparison to other lesser-used picks like Basement Biden. Like an elementary school bully looking for literally any distinguishing feature that could be turned into a nickname, Basement Biden referred to the president's quarantining in the fall of 2020.
Only months into the COVID-19 pandemic, Biden was opting for home recordings in lieu of in-person campaigning for the 2020 presidential election. As the then-presidential hopeful slowly began reintegrating traditional in-person events, Trump tweeted that September, "Great! Biden is finally being forced out of his basement. Now you'll be able to see what is going on 'up there.' He may do some 'limited' campaigning. Basement Biden is no longer playing well in the Polls!"
However, at a time when vaccines were still widely unavailable and fears and anxieties around COVID-19 were at an all-time high, some viewed Trump's Basement Biden moniker as a sign that the ex-POTUS wasn't taking the pandemic seriously. Considering Stanford researchers traced more than 30,000 COVID-19 cases back to Trump's in-person rallies in 2020, the former president's nickname for Biden seems all the more asinine.
Little [Insert Politician's Name Here]
If there's one thing Donald Trump likes to lean on when creating nicknames, it's making fun of someone's stature. The former president's preoccupation with height — even in the context of his own son, Barron Trump — has been well documented on social media, in interviews, and at political rallies. In addition to all of the times he has awkwardly mentioned Barron's height, Trump has made a habit of using diminutives on several politicians' names.
Donald has used "little," "mini," "liddle," and "tiny" to infantilize several political adversaries, like Michael Bloomberg (Little Michael and Mini Mike Bloomberg), Ron "Tiny D" Sanctimonious, Marco "Little Marco" Rubio, Ben "Little Ben" Sasse, and Adam "Liddle' Adam" Schiff. Even his inflammatory remarks toward North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un would sometimes be modified to "Little Rocket Man" on social media. In fact, Donald's evident preoccupation with height has even been a rumored source of tension between him and his son Barron.
Ultimately, Donald Trump's penchant for nicknames is a testament to his entire political career: unapologetic, confrontational, and not lacking in shock value. This small sampling is only a drop in the bucket of countless other monikers Trump has devised over the years (honorable mentions go out to Crooked Hillary, Lyin' James Comey, Pete "Boot-Edge-Edge" Buttigieg). And we don't doubt there are plenty more where those came from.