Once again, Donald Trump’s choice of words has become his own worst enemy — and social media is having a field day.
The 79-year-old leader raised eyebrows this week after delivering another head-scratching statement while addressing reporters about what he described as a “successful mission” in the Caribbean — one that few seemed to know anything about.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, 54, who sat beside him, appeared to do his best impression of a man trying to understand a language only the president seems to speak.
“Drug usage is way down,” Trump stated on Oct. 22 without providing any evidence to support his claim. “And drug usage coming from the sea, they call it ocean drugs. A little term that they use, the ocean drugs, is very close to non-existent right now. I wouldn’t want to be in one of those boats heading away.”
Trump added, “The ocean drugs, the sea drugs, drugs by sea, they call it also, that’s almost down to nothing.” He inadvertently set off a torrent of online jokes by implying that the repeated phrase is regularly used.
The president’s latest attempt to take credit for something that never existed—or that he never actually created—has people online shaking their heads. His most recent “scrambled brain rambling,” as one critic called it, has sparked a flood of jokes, with others suggesting he simply makes up words and phrases “just to hear his own voice.”
“No such thing,” one X user posted, while another sarcastically joked, “No one uses that term except Aquaman. And even he only uses it with close friends. I’m one of them.”
A third confused social media user asked, “WTH is he talking about?”
Many even zoomed in on Rubio’s face as he looked down and took a deep breath when Trump began speaking.
Marco Rubio’s face every time Trump says something like this … pic.twitter.com/b8OTlh4PHF
— Stephen Simpson 🇺🇦 ProperGander (@BamaStephen) October 22, 2025
The wisecracks about his latest word salad all carried the same sentiment — “He loves to make up terms, doesn’t he?” one user joked, as others piled on with more memes of “Aquaman.”
Still, many were left confused, claiming, “He’s out of his mind.” But the bigger question flooding timelines was, “Who is ‘they’?” — the mysterious group Trump often references during his meetings and speeches, as if everyone’s supposed to know who “they” are.
Previously, Trump faced ridicule for his fixation on the word “groceries,” which he attributed to helping him secure his 2024 presidential electoral victory against then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I won on groceries. It’s a very simple word – groceries. Like almost… who uses the word? I started using the word,” the MAGA leader said in a December 2024 interview with NBC News.
After returning to the White House in January 2025, Trump was still mesmerized by the idea of regular citizens buying food at a store. He once again wove the word “groceries” into his “Liberation Day” speech in April.
“An old-fashioned term that we use, groceries. I used it on the campaign. It’s such an old-fashioned term, but a beautiful term, groceries,” he uttered at the Rose Garden event.
The president resumed, “It’s sort of a bag with different things in it. Groceries went through the roof, and I campaigned on that. I talked about the word groceries for a lot.”
One month later, the businessman with a reported net worth of at least $5 billion took credit for supposedly inventing a commonly used word that has been in existence since 1599.
“Basically, what we’re doing is equalizing. There’s a new word that I came up with, which is probably the best word,” Trump was quoted, saying in May while promising to lower prices for Americans.
Recently, Trump did suggest he was not the inventor of a certain word often associated with the international drug trade. On Oct. 23, he said, “Somebody came up with the word ‘cartel.’ I won’t tell you who that person was.”
