Trump's Shady Nicknames For Everyone Are Riddled With Insecurity (& Backfired More Than Once)

Donald Trump has never shied away from taking a page out of a schoolyard bully's book and saddling his opponents with strange nicknames. Although it may seem juvenile for a president to resort to such low blows, Dietram Scheufele, a communications professor at the University of Wisconsin, pointed out in an interviw with Business Insider that Trump's offensive monikers can actually be quite effective for his messaging. "For his audience, what it does is the idea of resonance," Scheufele explained. "A large part of his success is his ability to resonate almost intuitively with an audience with just a few words." 

The Republican politician labeled Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren "Pocahontas" to form an immediate link to the controversy of her supposedly falsely claiming she had Native American heritage. Likewise, Trump even came up with strange nicknames for news networks to make people question their credibility. He didn't put much effort into his monikers for the New York Times and Forbes magazine, simply adding "failing" to the start of their names, per Axios. Likewise, after the 2016 elections concluded, the divisive politician changed CNN's "Clinton News Network" moniker to "Fake News Network." 

Of course, Trump has also used nicknames to paint himself in a positive light on several occasions. While speaking at a Women's History Month event at the White House in 2025, the former "Apprentice" host proudly described himself as the "fertilization president," (via People). Although that moniker was undoubtedly icky, Trump likely found solace in knowing that it didn't backfire quite as badly as some of his nicknames for his opponents.

Donald Trump is obviously extremely proud of himself for labeling Joe Biden as "Sleepy Joe" since it is one of the few nicknames he has stuck with over the years. In fact, the odd moniker remained one of the divisive politician's go-tos even after the 2024 presidential elections were over and he'd won the presidency. However, during a 2025 chat with Laura Ingraham, Trump accidentally revealed that his biggest Biden insult is based on total jealousy. When the Fox News anchor questioned how he managed to sleep with the stresses of the job, the commander-in-chief admitted that he was amazed by how "Sleepy Joe" could fall asleep outdoors when the paparazzi were watching him so closely. 

"I would never be able to sleep like that," Trump confessed, seemingly with envy (via X). However, those words may not have been entirely true since the controversial politician has been spotted catching some Zs at some truly odd times himself. According to the New York Times, Trump fell asleep several times during his high-stakes hush money trial. 

Shortly afterward, Biden unveiled a new nickname for Trump to mock his embarrassing courtroom behavior. While delivering a speech at the White House Correspondents dinner, the Democratic politician joked, "I want to thank you for the warm welcome, but please — not so loud. Donald is listening," (via YouTube). He also turned his opponent's moniker back on him by christening him "Sleepy Don." While he has also poked fun at Biden's age several times, Trump's own drowsy moment in Saudi Arabia put his true age on blast.

As the Washington Post reported at the time, Donald Trump labeled Democratic House Representative and Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Jerrod Nadler, "Fat Jerry" during a 2019 chat with GOP lawmakers about trade-related matters. The then-president also ranted about how Nadler's weight loss surgery hadn't done him much good. By then, Trump had been at odds with Nadler for decades since he had staunchly opposed one of the tycoon's past real estate projects. As a result, it's unsurprising that Trump called his opponent "fat" in 1995 and justified his remark to the New York Daily News by saying, "To be honest with you, he's a walking time bomb and if I can convince him to put himself, not in great shape, but in reasonable shape, I'm doing a great service to him and his family." 

In typical Trump fashion, the jab stemmed from the divisive politician's own insecurities. During his 2024 debate against Joe Biden, Trump accidentally confirmed that he was very self-conscious about his weight. While the warring politicians attempted to prove that they were physically and mentally fit to run the country, Biden quipped, "You're going to see he's six-foot-five and only 225 pounds — or 235 pounds," (via CNN). 

Although Trump denied ever claiming that, the comment appeared to have got under his skin regardless as he urged his opponent to behave maturely following a brief spat about their golfing skills. The Republican's insecurity was further cemented by the fact that his actual weight remains a mystery. Although Trump claimed he was 215 pounds during his August 2023 arrest in Georgia, many found that pretty hard to believe.

While Donald Trump frequently labels his female critics "nasty," he pokes fun at his male opponents with nicknames about their height. In a 2023 Truth Social post, the former reality star called his former vice president Mike Pence "Liddle Mike Pence," per CNN. As the Associated Press reported at the time, he similarly took shots at Michael Bloomberg's height by chiding that he's "Mini Mike" and a "5"4' mass of dead energy." Notably, that jab wasn't accurate because the media mogul is around 5"7', according to a 2019 doctor's report. Even his Secretary of State during his second administration, Marco Rubio, wasn't spared since Trump nicknamed him "Little Marco Rubio" in a February 2016 tweet. 

However, his repeated attacks are steeped in irony since Trump has been caught lying about his height several times. Although the president confidently stated that he was 6"3' during his Fulton County jail booking process, the divisive leader's public appearances have cast major doubt on this spurious claim. For instance, when he met William, Prince of Wales, in December 2024, Trump appeared significantly shorter than him, despite the royal's 6"3' stature. 

Similarly, older photos of Trump next to Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau proved that he lied about his height. And, to top it all off, a 2025 health report released by the White House put the Republican politician at a less remarkable 6"2.5.' Although it's plausible that Trump's ego prevents him from revealing his real height, certain critics have speculated that he lies about it simply to avoid being labeled obese according to the Body Mass Index.

Since Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris have both been in close competition with Donald Trump, it's unsurprising that he saddled them with similar nicknames. In a 2017 tweet, the Republican labeled his 2016 Democratic opponent "Crooked Hilary." When Trump used the moniker at a 2018 rally, the crowd started chanting, "Lock her up!" and he didn't do anything to stop them (via YouTube). Eight years later, the divisive politician was convicted in his hush money trial, and the irony was not lost on the 2016 Democratic nominee. 

While Clinton delivered a speech at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, she turned his digs against him by proclaiming, "Donald Trump fell asleep at his own trial and when he woke up, he made his own kind of history: The first person to run for president with 34 felony convictions," (via YouTube). The slight got the crowd roaring, booing him, and even chanting, "Lock him up!" As The Hill noted, Trump also repurposed Ted Cruz's nickname by labeling Clinton "Lyin' Hillary" in 2016. 

Then, he bestowed the moniker on the then-vice president during a 2024 rally in North Carolina by decrying "Lyin' Kamala Harris," (via ABC News). However, the nickname became pretty ironic only moments later when Trump made a demonstrably false claim about Harris supporting abortions up until the ninth month of pregnancy and even after childbirth. Notably, his 2024 Democratic opponent firmly maintained that she would restore Roe v. Wade if elected, which enabled abortions up to 24 weeks only.

At one point during the 2024 presidential elections, it seemed as though Donald Trump had finally grown tired of recycling the same old nicknames for Kamala Harris, so he decided to start using an original and completely nonsensical one instead. In August 2024, the Republican candidate referred to his opponent as "Kamabla" in a Truth Social post, leading some people to believe he had made another infamous typo (via Yahoo!). However, Trump clarified that it was meant to be a moniker by repeating it in a few more posts shortly afterward. As the confusion surrounding the nickname ramped up, New York Magazine asked the divisive politician to elaborate on the thinking behind it. "Just a [...] mixed-up [...] pile of words. Like she is," Trump explained, evidently at a loss for words himself. Needless to say, he stopped using the bizarre moniker soon after. 

In contrast, the president went with a considerably more straightforward moniker for Former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. During a 2019 chat with Politico, he compared the popular Democrat to the MAD Magazine mascot by arguing, "Alfred E. Neuman cannot become president of the United States." However, Buttigieg offered a few hilarious responses to the dig that backfired on Trump. 

When reporters asked him for his thoughts on the comparison, the former South Bend mayor confessed that he didn't know who Neuman was, adding, "I guess it's a generational thing," (via X). Meanwhile, when the nickname came up again during Buttigieg's 2024 appearance on "The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon," he stated that he was glad to have "inspired [Trump] to make a literary reference for possibly the first time."