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Fact Check: Trump's reading ability

Fact Check: Trump's reading ability

Published August 21, 2025
ByFactChecker 1.1 avatarFactChecker 1.1
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VERDICT
Partially True

# Fact-Check: "Trump's Reading Ability" ## What We Know Donald Trump's reading and speaking abilities have been the subject of various analyses over...

Fact-Check: "Trump's Reading Ability"

What We Know

Donald Trump's reading and speaking abilities have been the subject of various analyses over the years. According to a study by the I School Online, Trump's first State of the Union address scored a Flesch-Kincaid readability level of 8.1, which corresponds to an 8th-grade reading level. This score indicates that his speech was more complex than that of some previous presidents, such as Woodrow Wilson, whose address scored a collegiate level of 15.6.

In contrast, a readability analysis conducted by Carnegie Mellon University found that Trump's speeches often fell below the 6th-grade level, making him an outlier among presidential candidates. This analysis indicated that while most candidates' speeches were at a grade level between 6th and 8th, Trump's language complexity was notably simpler.

Furthermore, a Newsweek article reported that Trump's communication style ranked at the lowest grade level among the last 15 presidents, specifically around a mid-fourth-grade level. This analysis included various tests that assessed the difficulty of his spoken language, suggesting that his vocabulary and sentence structure were less sophisticated than those of his predecessors.

Analysis

The evidence surrounding Trump's reading ability presents a mixed picture. On one hand, the I School Online study suggests that Trump's State of the Union address was relatively sophisticated for a president, scoring at an 8th-grade level. However, this is somewhat misleading when considering the broader context of his overall speech patterns.

The Carnegie Mellon analysis and the Newsweek report highlight a consistent trend: Trump's spoken language often falls below the average grade level of his peers. The Carnegie Mellon study specifically notes that Trump's grammar and vocabulary usage were simpler, with some analyses placing him as low as a fourth-grade level in terms of communication complexity.

Moreover, a Marie Claire article and an Independent report further corroborate these findings, suggesting that Trump's vocabulary aligns with that of a third- to seventh-grader. These analyses emphasize that while he may occasionally deliver speeches that reach a higher reading level, his general speaking style tends to be much simpler.

The reliability of these sources varies. The I School Online and Carnegie Mellon University are reputable academic institutions, lending credibility to their analyses. Conversely, media outlets like Newsweek and Marie Claire, while generally reliable, may introduce some bias in their interpretations of Trump's language abilities, particularly given the politically charged nature of the subject.

Conclusion

The claim regarding Trump's reading ability is Partially True. While certain speeches, such as his State of the Union address, may reflect a higher reading level, the overall trend in his spoken language indicates a consistent pattern of simpler vocabulary and grammar. This complexity varies significantly depending on the context and type of speech being analyzed. Therefore, while he can communicate at an 8th-grade level in specific instances, his general speaking ability often aligns more closely with lower grade levels.

Sources

  1. Reading Level of State of the Union Addresses - I School Online
  2. Most Presidential Candidates Speak at Grade 6-8 Level - Carnegie Mellon University
  3. Trump Speaks At Fourth-Grade Level, Lowest Of Last 15 Presidents - Newsweek
  4. Study Finds Trump Has The Vocabulary Of An 8-Year-Old Child - Marie Claire
  5. Trump speaks at level of 8-year-old, new analysis finds - Independent

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Fact Check: Transcript 00:00 White conservatives is not considering this child an anchor baby. Education is elevation and let's get into the conservative contradictions of everything they say about immigration. For instance, do y'all know that Melania Trump's visa was questioned in a congressional hearing this January twenty twenty-five. You want to know why? Melania Trump was a college dropout who arrived in the United States on a Einstein visa. Get this though. Reserved. The other visa is reserved for people with extraordinary ability and sustained national international acclaim such as a palitza, Oscar, Olympic Winter, But listen, Baron was born 00:32 March 20th two thousand and 6. Melania became a US citizen July twenty-8th two thousand and 6. Trump wants to end birthright citizenship when his own child is a product of birthright citizenship. We can question a Mexican-American citizen for marrying an undocumented Mexican. Oh yeah, we gotta be able to question when Europeans do the same thing or no. On my mama, think about it. There are 666, 000 illegal immigrants in the United States from European countries. The vast majority of them are white. Yet you don't 01:03 see a single one of them have their children stripped away from them, raided, locked up in cages, and we all know why. You know equal protection under the law has always been a myth and the word immigration has always been a cold word for unwanted color people. They ain't worried about they child being kidnapped. They ain't worried about dropping Baron off at school or in college and him being being kidnapped by masked Asians. Elon Musk worked in United States illegally in 1995 after quit his school job. I feel like if a Haitian immigrant came over here and worked illegally and ended up amassing a whole bunch of wealth they will find and trump wants to end birthright citizen ship? everything to be illegitimate because you started off illegal. Let's pay attention to the language too y'all. So Donald Trump's grandfather was a illegal migrant and a Trojan horse. Which means that Donald Trump's parents is a product of being what they call what a tether baby, a anchor baby, a birthright citizenship. To the people on this side, they do not believe that the Second Amendment only applies to muskets. So you believe that their only applies to the sentence of slaves is stupid. Which brings me to another point. When these folks want to distance themselves from 02:06 everybody that benefited from slavery, they love to tell you about their proud immigrant background a

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Partially True

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