What is the stupidest thing a recent president has said? It may depend on what your definition of ‘is’ is
- President Donald Trump was asked about the impact of his tariff policies and trade war with China during a press conference on April 30, 2025, and responded that American children should prepare to make sacrifices at Christmas, potentially implying they would have fewer toys.
- Trump’s comment was likened to Marie Antoinette’s famous phrase “Let them eat cake,” and was widely criticized as tone-deaf and out of touch with the concerns of ordinary Americans.
- Other recent presidents have also made gaffes that have embarrassed or affected history, including Richard Nixon’s claim he wasn’t a crook during the Watergate scandal, Gerald Ford’s incorrect statement about the Soviet Union controlling Eastern Europe, and George W. Bush’s infamous phrase “Fool me once, shame on − shame on you. Fool me − you can’t get fooled again.”
- Bill Clinton’s response to a question about his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, in which he said “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is,” became a defining moment of his presidency and highlighted his contribution to semantics.
- More recently, Joe Biden faced criticism for his performance during a 2024 presidential debate, including a confusing statement about immigration policy that was mocked by Trump, leading to Biden’s withdrawal from the race just three weeks later.
President Donald Trump was asked during a press conference on April 30, 2025, about the possible impact of his tariff policies and trade war with China.
Trump answered that American children should prepare to make sacrifices at Christmas.
“Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, you know,” he said, “and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally.”
The New York Times reported that Trump appeared to be telling kids they would have to manage with fewer toys this year for the sake of his economic agenda.
Jane Mayer, a reporter with The New Yorker, called it “Trump’s Marie Antoinette moment.”
This was not the first − or last − time Trump said something that left many Americans with mouths open and heads shaking.
Hours after his Marie Antoinette moment, Trump, whose first 100 days back in office have been characterized as chaotic and damaging to democracy, was asked during a phone interview at a town-hall broadcast on NewsNation what the biggest mistake he’d made thus far in his second presidency.
“I don’t really believe I’ve made any mistakes,” Trump replied.
The audience, representing a cross section of Americans, burst out laughing.
Trump’s gaffes aren’t just part of his presidency; gaffes are part of the storied tradition of the American presidency. Some of those comments have clung to presidents and even affected history.
Here are examples from each president over the past 50 years or so of statements that at least some of them were embarrassed by or came to regret. Each was made when the president was serving in the White House. The quotes are organized chronologically.
Richard Nixon is a law-abiding guy
On Nov. 17, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, in the midst of the Watergate scandal that would end his presidency, defended himself against charges of corruption.
“People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook,” Nixon said. “Well, I’m not a crook. I’ve earned everything I’ve got.”
Instead of quelling the scandal, as Nixon hoped, his words produced the opposite reaction. He resigned from the presidency nine months later in August 1974.
Gerald Ford forgets the Cold War
Gerald Ford, Nixon’s vice president who became president after Nixon’s resignation, subsequently ran for election in 1976.
During one of his televised debates against Democratic nominee Jimmy Carter, Ford inexplicably claimed the Soviet Union did not control Eastern Europe.
“There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe,” Ford said, “and there never will be under a Ford administration.”
To which the moderator, New York Times editor May Frankel, said, “I’m sorry, what?”
Ford’s remark was so outrageously incorrect that it may have contributed to his defeat in the tight presidential election.
Jimmy Carter gets advice from his teen
Carter defeated Ford and was elected in 1976. He ran for reelection against Republican nominee Ronald Reagan in 1980. During one of their debates, Carter said he sought the advice of his 13-year-old daughter, Amy, on what was the most important issue facing America.
“She said she thought it was nuclear weaponry,” Carter said, “and the control of nuclear arms.”
Carter tried to show that arms control was a subject that had great resonance to even 13-year-olds. Instead, it left viewers puzzled why he had inserted his daughter into the debate. A wire service story at the time summarized the response by saying that reporters covering the debate winced and others groaned.
Ronald Reagan attacks Russia
Reagan, a former television and movie actor who defeated Carter in the 1980 presidential election, was known as “the Great Communicator” for his eloquence.
A well-known anti-Communist, Reagan was not always careful about what he said.
Before a speech on Aug. 11, 1984, Reagan joked during a sound check, “I’ve signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.”
The joke on the open mic, which was not broadcast live but leaked later, resulted in a Soviet red alert − and temporarily moved the U.S. and Soviet Union toward war.
George H.W. Bush eats word salad
Reagan’s successor, his vice president, George H.W. Bush, by comparison was no great communicator. His words came out of his mouth and appeared to go in separate ways.
“I have opinions of my own, strong opinions,” Bush said, “but I don’t always agree with them.”
Bill Clinton is or isn’t, maybe
Democrat Bill Clinton defeated George H.W. Bush in the 1992 presidential election.
Clinton’s presidency was dogged with accusations of unethical behavior and extramarital affairs. Clinton, in testimony before a grand jury investigating his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, was asked whether he was lying when he told aides that “there’s nothing going on” between him and Lewinsky.
“It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is,” Clinton responded. “If the − if he − if ‘is’ means is and never has been, that is not − that is one thing.”
Slate magazine said that this response may have been the “defining moment” of his presidency and, in doing so, captured his contribution to semantics. As Time magazine pointed out,
“Until then, America hadn’t been sure there was more than one definition of ‘is.’”
George W. Bush’s shame
George W. Bush, the son of George H.W. Bush, succeeded Clinton in the White House. Americans learned that Bush had more in common with his father than just the same last name.
“There’s an old saying in Tennessee − I know it’s in Texas,” Bush said, “probably in Tennessee, that says, fool me once, shame on − shame on you. Fool me − you can’t get fooled again.”
Barack Obama strikes out
Barack Obama, like Reagan, was known for his sense of humor. And like Reagan, Obama learned that not everything was a joking matter.
While appearing on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno in 2009, Obama said he had improved his bowling by practicing at the White House bowling alley. He told Leno he had bowled a pedestrian score of 129, provoking a sarcastic response from Leno.
Obama then made the following joke: “It’s like the Special Olympics or something.”
Obama quickly apologized to the Special Olympics, the athletic competition for people with intellectual disabilities.
Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images
Joe Biden’s bad day
Trump was first elected president in 2016 but was defeated by Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Trump and Biden faced each other again in 2024.
During a television debate on June 27, 2024, CNN anchor Jake Tapper asked Biden why voters should trust him to solve the immigration crisis. Biden said he changed a law that allowed Trump and his administration to separate immigrant families and put children in cages.
Biden’s train of thought then jumped the tracks.
“And I’m going to continue to move until we get the total ban on the − the total initiative relative to what we’re going to do with more Border Patrol and more asylum officers,” Biden said.
“I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence,” Trump said, “and I don’t think he did, either.”
The same could be said for much of what Biden said during the debate.
Biden withdrew from the presidential race three weeks after his poor debate performance.
Chris Lamb does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.