Date: October 9, 2025
A concise, sourced roundup of widely reported verbal missteps and headline-making moments. Each entry includes brief context, a short quote when relevant, and links to coverage or transcripts. This list is representative, not exhaustive.
1) Disinfectant and “light” as COVID-19 treatments (Apr 23, 2020)
- Quote: “Supposing we brought the light inside the body… And then I see the disinfectant… is there a way we can do something like that, by injection… so it’d be interesting to check that.”
- Context: White House COVID briefing; later said he was being sarcastic.
- Sources: FactCheck.org, PolitiFact, BBC
2) “Sharpiegate” — Hurricane Dorian and Alabama (Sep 2019)
- Summary: Displayed an altered forecast map implying Alabama could be hit; subsequent NOAA turmoil.
- Sources: NPR, Columbia Law — NOAA integrity summary, USA Today fact check
3) Revolutionary War “airports” (Jul 4, 2019)
- Quote: “Our army… took over the airports… it did everything it had to do.”
- Context: Salute to America speech; later blamed a teleprompter.
- Sources: C‑SPAN clip, TIME, CNN
4) “Tim Apple” (Mar 6, 2019)
5) “Nambia” at the UN (Sep 2017)
- Quote: Praised the health system of “Nambia” (nonexistent country).
- Sources: CNN, Pittsburgh Post‑Gazette
6) Wind turbines “cause cancer” (Apr 2, 2019)
- Quote: Claimed noise from wind turbines causes cancer and huge property-value drops (no evidence supports this).
- Sources: C‑SPAN clip, FactCheck.org, NYT
7) Finland “raking” forests (Nov 2018)
- Quote: Suggested Finland avoids wildfires by “raking” forests; Finland’s president disputed it.
- Sources: AP, BBC
8) “Covfefe” (May 31, 2017)
- Quote: “Despite the constant negative press covfefe.”
- Sources: NYT, The Guardian, Wikipedia overview
9) Civil War “could have been worked out” / Andrew Jackson (May 2017)
- Quote: Questioned why the Civil War couldn’t be “worked out,” invoked Andrew Jackson anachronistically.
- Sources: CBS News, ABC News, AEI analysis
10) Inauguration crowd size; “alternative facts” (Jan 2017)
- Summary: Claimed record inauguration crowd; Spicer briefing; Conway’s “alternative facts” remark; data and photos contradicted claims.
- Sources: Reuters, FactCheck.org
11) “Hamberders” (Jan 2019)
- Quote: Tweeted about serving “hamberders” to Clemson football team.
- Sources: CNN, Business Insider, ABC News
12) “Person, woman, man, camera, TV” (Jul 22, 2020)
- Quote: Recounted acing a cognitive test by reciting memory words on TV.
- Sources: CBS News, The New Yorker