Trump Offers Mind-Boggling Definition of the Word Skedaddle

Step aside Merriam-Webster, Donald Trump is once again slinging definitions. If only they made any sense.  

During a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, Trump lauded his own strike on three Iranian nuclear facilities last month as “a perfect military performance.” But as he spoke, his description devolved into inscrutable drivel. 

“Those machines flew for 37 straight hours, they didn’t stop. They went skedaddle. You know the word skedaddle? It means skedaddle,” Trump explained. 

“They dropped the bombs, and somebody said, ‘Skedaddle! Let’s get the hell out of here!’” Trump continued. “And every bomb hit its mark, and hit it beautif—hit it incredibly.”

Trump: They went skedaddle. Do you know the word skedaddle? It means skedaddle. pic.twitter.com/NI9pwyhsFG

— Acyn (@Acyn) July 8, 2025

While an early intelligence assessment suggested that the U.S. strike may only have delayed Iran’s nuclear capabilities by a few months, the White House and Department of Defense have insisted that the sites were “obliterated.” 

For what it’s worth, skedaddle is a real word. It’s an intransitive verb that means to leave immediately. Trump has a tendency to get caught up in his own syntax and has repeatedly waxed poetic about the word groceries, which he treats like an archaic term he’s unearthed for the masses. 

Speaking of groceries, on Tuesday, Trump claimed that he’d successfully brought prices down, but the consumer price index says otherwise. According to the USDA Economic Research Service, the CPI has increased 0.2 percent from April to May 2025, and is up 2.4 percent from May 2024. The CPI for June will be released later this month.