Here’s a fun little game. Take any sentence describing something Donald Trump has done and insert the word “inadvertently” immediately after his name.
Then read it aloud.
You may be surprised by how often the sentence sounds perfectly reasonable. In fact, sometimes it sounds more believable than the original.
For example:
Donald Trump inadvertently signed an executive order.
Donald Trump inadvertently boarded Marine One.
Donald Trump inadvertently held a cabinet meeting.
Donald Trump inadvertently imposed tariffs.
Donald Trump inadvertently insulted a foreign leader.
Donald Trump inadvertently revealed classified information.
Donald Trump inadvertently fired a government employee.
Donald Trump inadvertently appointed a cabinet secretary.
Donald Trump inadvertently attended a NATO summit.
Donald Trump inadvertently delivered a speech.
Donald Trump inadvertently answered a reporter’s question.
Donald Trump inadvertently declared a national emergency.
Donald Trump inadvertently negotiated a trade agreement.
Donald Trump inadvertently threatened to invade another country.
Donald Trump inadvertently nominated someone to the Supreme Court.
Donald Trump inadvertently posted on Truth Social.
Donald Trump inadvertently put on his pants.
Donald Trump inadvertently became President of the United States.
See? It works remarkably well.
And the more consequential the action, the more interesting the exercise becomes.
Donald Trump inadvertently destabilized international alliances.
Donald Trump inadvertently undermined confidence in American institutions.
Donald Trump inadvertently damaged the economy.
Donald Trump inadvertently alienated America’s closest allies.
Donald Trump inadvertently encouraged authoritarian governments.
Donald Trump inadvertently made Canada reconsider its relationship with the United States.
Donald Trump inadvertently made millions of Americans question the future of their democracy.
At some point, the joke stops being about grammar and starts being about competence.
Because the word inadvertently implies something important: an absence of intention, awareness, or understanding of the consequences.
And that’s where the game gets uncomfortable.
When a president makes a consequential decision, we generally assume he understands what he’s doing. We assume he has considered the alternatives, weighed the consequences, consulted knowledgeable advisers, and made a deliberate choice.
But what if that assumption is unwarranted?
What if some presidential decisions aren’t the result of a carefully considered strategy but simply whatever seemed like a good idea five minutes earlier?
What if the consequences are not merely unintended but genuinely unanticipated?
There’s a meaningful distinction between deliberately making a bad decision and inadvertently making one.
The first suggests poor judgment.
The second suggests a lack of understanding.
And when you consider the enormous powers of the American presidency, it’s not immediately obvious which is more frightening.
Of course, the game works in the other direction, too.
Donald Trump inadvertently did something beneficial.
Donald Trump inadvertently told the truth.
Donald Trump inadvertently made a sensible decision.
Donald Trump inadvertently agreed with an expert.
Donald Trump inadvertently demonstrated humility.
Donald Trump inadvertently accepted responsibility.
Donald Trump inadvertently put the interests of the American people ahead of his own.
Somehow, those sentences sound even funnier.
And perhaps that’s the real beauty of this little exercise.
It doesn’t require us to prove that Trump is incompetent, malicious, brilliant, foolish, calculating, or simply improvising his way through history.
It merely asks us to entertain the possibility that the word inadvertently belongs in more presidential headlines than we’d care to admit.
So the next time you read about something Donald Trump has done, try inserting that one little word.
You might discover that the sentence makes more sense.
You might even find yourself wondering whether the reporter accidentally left it out.
And if the word fits almost everything a president does, perhaps the most troubling question isn’t whether he’s doing these things inadvertently.
It’s whether he knows the difference.
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