Analysis: Count the qualifiers -- Trump's week became another presidential talk-a-thon

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is capping off another week in which he had to qualify many of his bold statements, while keeping his actual policy intentions masked or vague over a tidal wave of presidential words.

The former reality television host has become something of a narrator for his own second term — think a tough-talking, barb-throwing, denial-uttering New York City version of country music star Waylon Jennings’ folksy voiceover work on “The Dukes of Hazzard.”

Even more than his turbulent first term, this one is a made-for-television drama that is heavy on one thing: words. Take this week alone.

Between Sunday and Thursday, Trump had said 34,299 words in public, according to the “By the Numbers” newsletter from CQ Roll Call’s Factba.se.

When Trump signed a multiagency spending package Tuesday afternoon, there were 4,752 words spoken over a 35-minute-and-23-second Oval Office event, according to Factba.se.

Over three events on Monday and Wednesday, the talker in chief spoke for a total of 74 minutes, uttering 15,001 words, according to Factba.se. That includes 7,622 words over 48 minutes and 13 seconds the president uttered during an Oval Office sit-down Wednesday with “NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Llamas, according to the portion released by the network.

But the coup de grâce this week came Thursday morning as Trump dropped 12,306 words while hammering congressional Democrats and mocking some House Republicans during an address at the annual National Prayer Breakfast that “weaved” from topic to topic. He spoke another 1,774 words during an event at the White House later that day to launch the new TrumpRx website.

Trump said the phrase “and just in closing” at the 71-minute mark at the prayer breakfast. He continued for four-and-a-half additional minutes, covering 561 words, according to the Factba.se transcript.

Since returning last month from a holiday break in South Florida, Trump has engaged in a talk-a-thon — at the White House, at an economic summit in Switzerland, on Air Force One, at Mar-a-Lago and at a campaign stop in Iowa. And while doing so, his bold statements about domestic and foreign policy have often quickly been followed by qualifiers that muddy his true intentions.

A prime example came when NBC News’ Llamas asked Trump if he would actually send Americans rebate checks from monies collected by his global tariffs.

“I haven’t made the commitment yet,” the president said, adding: “But I may make the commitment.”

Llamas also asked Trump what he had learned from Minneapolis, after two fatal shootings of American citizens by federal immigration agents. “I learned that, maybe, we could use a little bit of a softer touch,” Trump said, inserting several qualifiers over 14 words. Then came the major qualifier that signaled his mass deportation policy goals and some tactics could largely remain the same: “But you still have to be tough. … We’re dealing with really hard criminals.”

‘I’m a smart guy’

The president’s qualified statements can sometimes contribute to his lofty assessments of his own policy-making prowess. Consider during the same interview, when he was asked if he views the Federal Reserve as independent from the White House.

“I mean, in theory it’s an independent body,” he replied. “But, I think, you know, I’m a smart guy. I know the economy better than almost everybody.”

Meantime, the commander in chief on Thursday threatened to use the U.S. military to protect American bases and personnel on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia — but only if a new arrangement negotiated by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer collapses.

“I understand that the deal Prime Minister Starmer has made, according to many, (was) the best he could make. However, if the lease deal, sometime in the future, ever falls apart, or anyone threatens or endangers U.S. operations and forces at our Base, I retain the right to Militarily secure and reinforce the American presence in Diego Garcia,” the commander in chief wrote on social media.

Trump had wanted Starmer to scrap the arrangement, suggesting the president’s qualified sabre-rattling was an indirect admission he lost the argument.

And when perhaps the most publicly talkative president in U.S. history has not been qualifying his policy stances, he’s declared that his phone conversations should be considered final words that can settle contentious and complicated situations.

Never shy about airing grievances, Trump complained to NBC News that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey — both Democrats — had not dropped their public concerns about federal immigration enforcement activities after receiving a presidential phone call.

“I’ve called the people. I’ve called the governor. I’ve called the mayor. Spoke to them. Had great conversations with them. And then I see them ranting and raving out there,” he groused. “Literally as though a call wasn’t made.”

It’s the same when reporters press him on issues such as his desire to take over Greenland or the Russia-Ukraine war that he promised to end on “Day One” of his current term. Trump will often cite his meetings with top advisers on these topics. But such meetings have yet to end the trans-Atlantic tensions over the Denmark-controlled island or a war that Trump almost daily complains has killed too many on both sides.

‘Disingenuous’

When the Trump administration hasn’t been busy qualifying its policy plans, the president and others have been lashing out at reporters.

Trump on Tuesday attacked CNN reporter and prime-time anchor Kaitlan Collins after she asked several questions related to the Jeffrey Epstein files, which contain thousands of references to Trump, first lady Melania Trump and related matters, according to a Factba.se search. (Being mentioned in the files does not imply any wrongdoing.)

“You are so bad. You are the worst reporter. No wonder CNN has no ratings, because of people like you,” Trump said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile.”

“You know why you’re not smiling? Because you know you’re not telling the truth, and you’re a very dishonest organization,” he added.

During a Thursday briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said she “can’t guarantee” that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents won’t be on patrol around voting stations during the November elections, calling the reporter’s question “disingenuous” and “silly.”

“I haven’t heard the president discuss any formal plans to put ICE outside of polling locations,” she said.

Only that longtime formal and informal Trump adviser Steve Bannon recently floated the idea of ICE agents doing immigration enforcement work around voting precincts. Things Bannon says on his podcast and public appearances often end up being recited by the president a few days later.

CQ Roll Call elections analyst Nathan Gonzales, the editor and publisher of Inside Elections, wrote on X of Leavitt’s remarks: “I’m taking this seriously and literally.”

“When Trump says something controversial, his backers chastise critics by saying, ‘Don’t be so sensitive. Of course, Trump isn’t going to do that,’” he added. “But then when he does it, they say, ‘Well, of course he did it. He said he was going to do it. Why are you surprised? Get over it.’”

That was again the message from the White House on Friday, after Trump’s social media account shared part of a video depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes. “This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King. Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public,” Leavitt said in a statement.

But some Republican lawmakers didn’t see it that way.

“Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House,” South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, a Trump ally, wrote on X. “The President should remove it.”

Rep. Mike Lawler, who faces a tough reelection in New York, said the post was “wrong and incredibly offensive — whether intentional or a mistake — and should be deleted immediately with an apology offered.”

Such outrage appeared to trigger a White House reversal some 12 hours after the racist meme was first shared. An official said in an email: “A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down.”

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