President Donald Trump on Tuesday became the first US president to intentionally drop an F-bomb on live TV when he told reporters that Israel and Iran “have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f— they’re doing.”
His agitated comments followed a ceasefire between the two countries, which Israel claimed Iran violated just hours afterward.
But while Trump might be the first president to drop the F-bomb in official comments to reporters on live TV, he’s no stranger to public foul language. Before a national address on the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Trump was caught on a hot mic saying “oh, f—” over a pen mark on his clothing.
In 2018, he infamously called Haiti and African nations “s–thole countries” during an Oval Office meeting.
In 2016, Trump dropped an F-bomb during his campaign rally, telling his supporters, “We’re gonna have businesses that used to be in New Hampshire that are now in Mexico. Come back to New Hampshire, and you can tell them to go f–k themselves.”
He also faced backlash after a 2005 Access Hollywood recording surfaced before the 2016 election in which he claimed that when you’re a “star,” you can grab women “by the p—y.”
However, Trump isn’t singular as a U.S. president caught cussing.
Joe Biden
During a January 2022 briefing, a hot mic picked up former President Joe Biden calling Fox News reporter Peter Doocy a “stupid son of a b—h.”
Near the end of the event, Doocy called out, “Do you think inflation is a political liability going into the midterms?”
“No, it’s a great asset,” Biden snarked. “More inflation. What a stupid son of a b—h.”
It is unclear whether Biden realized his whisper was picked up by the microphone. Regardless, Doocy said the president called to apologize shortly after the briefing.
And in 2010, as Barack Obama’s vice president, Biden whispered at his historic health care signing, “This is a big f–king deal.”
Barack Obama
In 2009, a hot mic caught President Barack Obama calling rapper Kanye West a “jacka–” after he interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Obama also used profanity in a 2012 Rolling Stone interview, referring to his presidential opponent Mitt Romney as a “bulls–er.” After being approached by a young fan, Obama joked that he did well with the younger demographic.
“Thoughts on lowering the voting age?” the interviewer asked.
“You know, kids have good instincts. They look at the other guy and say, ‘Well, that’s a bulls–ter, I can tell,’” Obama replied.
Obama later admitted he likely swore more than he should, especially after becoming president.
George W. Bush
During his 2000 campaign, former President George W. Bush told his running mate, Dick Cheney, around an unknowingly hot mic that New York Times reporter Adam Clymer a “major-league a–hole”
Bush later joked about the incident, referring to Clymer as a “major-league ass…et” in a taped message played at a press corps dinner.
He also used the F-bomb multiple times in a 1999 interview with Tucker Carlson for Talk magazine.
Bill Clinton
After Obama’s 2008 South Carolina primary win over Hillary Clinton, former President Bill Clinton compared it to the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s 1980s wins, which Obama saw as racially charged.
“I don’t think I should take any s–t from anybody on that, do you?” Bill Clinton responded, reportedly not knowing anyone could hear him.
John F. Kennedy
When information leaked that the Air Force spent $5,000 on Jackie Kennedy’s maternity suite at Otis Air Force Base in 1963, President John F. Kennedy predicted political backlash and angrily called it “a f–k-up” during a phone call with a general.
Harry Truman
Known as “Give ‘Em Hell Harry,” President Truman’s folksy language reflected his rough upbringing. He once called General Douglas MacArthur a “dumb son of a b—h” and Richard Nixon a “shifty-eyed godd—ed liar.”
Andrew Jackson
President Andrew Jackson gifted his wife an African gray parrot named Poll, who picked up his foul language.
At Jackson’s 1845 funeral, Poll shocked attendees by loudly cursing.
“Before the sermon and while the crowd was gathering, a wicked parrot that was a household pet got excited and commenced swearing so loud and long as to disturb the people and had to be carried from the house,” funeral attendee Rev. William Menefee Norment once wrote.
Abraham Lincoln
President Abraham Lincoln famously shared a story about Ethan Allen shocking English hosts with a crude joke involving a portrait of George Washington in an outhouse, as depicted in Spielberg’s Lincoln.
“There is nothing to make an Englishman shit quicker than the sight of General George Washington,” Lincoln reportedly said.
