Trump says the ‘N-word’, for him, now means ‘nuclear word’

• Trump was recorded at an event saying he now uses the term “n-word” to mean “nuclear word.”
• “They said: ‘The n-word, oh, he said a horrible thing!'” Trump said. “And I said, no, the n-word is the ‘nuclear word!”
• At the same event, Trump also revived his baseless claim that Afghan refugees are terrorists.

Former President Donald Trump claims that he now uses the term “n-word” to refer to the word “nuclear.” 

A clip of the former president at an event was circulated on Twitter by right-wing watchdog Patriot Takes. In the clip, the former president is seen speaking to a roomful of supporters, where he voiced his opinions on Russian nuclear power. 

“We have the greatest nuclear force in the world. You don’t want to do that. You know the — I call it the ‘N-word’,” Trump says. “Okay, I said that to a group of people. They said: ‘The N-word, oh, he said a horrible thing!” 

“I said, no, the nuclear word is what I’m trying to —” the former president continued, to laughter from the crowd. “I said, no, the N-word is the nuclear word, and the nuclear word is something that’s not supposed to be discussed.” 

“You don’t talk about it. You don’t talk about it, but Putin’s been talking about it,” Trump added. “Yeah, he’s an amazing country, but he’s a serious nuclear power and he’s talking about it.” 

Trump first attempted to rebrand the “N-word” as “nuclear” during a March appearance on Fox Business News. Trump said he heard Putin “constantly using the n-word,” — the “nuclear word” — during their talks.

Staffers and family members alike have accused the former president of using the racial slur “N-word” in the past. In 2018, Omarosa Manigault Newman accused Trump of uttering the slur several times, claiming that there was a tape from the making of his reality TV show “The Apprentice” that could prove it. 

Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, also said in 2020 in an interview on MSNBC that she had personally witnessed her uncle using anti-Semitic slurs and the N-word, which she said was unsurprising “given how virulently racist he is today.”