President Donald Trump’s big moment to tout his latest medical breakthrough quickly went off the rails, turning what should’ve been a victory lap into a tongue-twisting disaster.
The 79-year-old commander in chief’s big pharma moment on Thursday quickly turned into a linguistic obstacle course, as he fumbled through medication terms like a first-year med student cramming for finals while speaking from the Oval Office.
The initiative, TrumpRx, is a platform designed to offer Americans discounted prescription drugs. The announcement centered on EMD Serono’s agreement to provide fertility medications at significantly reduced prices, but the delivery became the story itself when Trump grappled with pronouncing the names of these treatments.
“The most popular drug of all, the uh, the IVF drug: Go-Nahl-Eff,” Trump declared, before catching himself as The New Republic reported, adding, “So, it’s Gonal F. Is that a proper pronunciation? Close enough, right?”
The medication in question, Gonal-F, is widely used by people undergoing fertility treatments and in-vitro fertilization. But the verbal challenges didn’t end there. Trump continued by mentioning another drug currently sold in Europe that the Food and Drug Administration would work to approve.
Trump: "Pergerverious. Pergoverous. And uh — thatsanisame. Pergoverous. We can't you name them nice simple names?" pic.twitter.com/McMMtilemW
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 16, 2025
“It’s Purgo-verius. Per-go-varus,” he repeated slowly, referring to Pergoveris, another fertility medication. The struggle prompted an exasperated observation from the president himself: “And that doesn’t sound — why can’t you name them nice simple things?”
The moment sparked immediate reaction across social platforms, with Threads users offering commentary that ranged from concern to comedic critique.
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“Too illiterate to read and too lazy to prepare by reading it ahead of time. ‘He is a bubbling cauldron of loathsome traits’ – Bob Costas,” one person remarked.
One person put it more bluntly: “Grandpa sure needs to go back to bed already.”
Another focused on the audio quality of the moment, noting, “The sounds of his teeth and sloppy saliva is hilarious, right Katie.”
The responses reflected a mixture of amusement and frustration, with one commenter writing, “What is really sad is people think Trump is being funny.”
A fifth observer questioned the reaction in the room itself, asking, “Why do they laugh with him? He can’t use simple rules of language, grammar, and phonics.”
This pharmaceutical fumble joins a growing collection of verbal missteps that have marked Trump’s public speaking throughout his political career.
Just days earlier, during a White House press conference on Sept. 29, he noticeably struggled with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s name while attempting to praise his leadership during multilateral Middle East discussions at the United Nations.
Last August in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Trump introduced a local restaurant owner but mispronounced “vegan” as “vaigan” while discussing the establishment’s menu.
“I’m not into the vaigan stuff, I must say, but I’m gonna have to try this,” he told the rally crowd, promising to sample “that vaigan food” during a future Milwaukee visit, Huff Post reported.
The pronunciation problems extend back further.
In 2020, according to USA Today, during a White House ceremony for conservation legislation, Trump transformed Yosemite into “Yo-se-Might” and “Yo-se-min-night” while discussing America’s natural wonders.
Geographic locations have proven particularly challenging. He insisted on saying “Neh-VAH-da” during a 2016 campaign rally despite locals preferring “Nev-ADD-a,” and turned Oregon into “Ore-uh-Gone” rather than the standard “Ore-uh-gin.”
Perhaps most notably, Trump has repeatedly altered the pronunciation of former Vice President Kamala Harris’ name, which she pronounces as “KA-ma-la.” He’s offered variations including “Ka-MA-la” and “KUH-ma-la,” defending himself by claiming he’s heard it “said about seven different ways.”
For someone who regularly challenges opponents to IQ tests and boasts about his “very stable genius” status, these repeated linguistic stumbles continue drawing attention to the gap between confidence and execution on the public stage.
