What to Know
President Donald Trump does not appear to know what a corner store is. To some people, this is an obvious sign of cognitive decline, given that a corner store is a pretty basic thing. But others have argued that Trump’s ignorance has less to do with age and more to do with his wealth and privilege.
The topic came up during a roundtable event in Las Vegas on Thursday, April 16. As the 79-year-old president spoke about his no tax on tips policy, he stumbled over the notes he was reading.
He questioned who would write the term “corner store.”
Trump: "Millions of American small businesses, including corner stores. What is a corner store? I've never heard that term. I know what a corner store is but I've never heard it described– a corner store. Who the hell wrote that?" pic.twitter.com/meTSMHxdX0
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 17, 2026
To him, this apparently sounded totally strange and made up. “The Great Big Beautiful Bill also slashed taxes on millions of Americans, small businesses, including restaurants, dry cleaners, corner stores…” Trump read from his notes. He then stopped to express his confusion over the term “corner store.”
“What is a corner store?” he questioned. “I’ve never heard that term.” He claimed to know what a corner store is, but his comments kind of suggested otherwise. Supposedly, he is aware of what a corner store is but has not actually heard that phrasing before? “I know what a corner store is but I’ve never heard it described—a corner store,” he continued. “Who the hell wrote that?”
Online, people called him out for this.
But Biden was the one with dementia, remember. https://t.co/CvIpdC5R8b
— Warren Kinsella (@kinsellawarren) April 17, 2026
They had a lot to say about it. For one, even though Trump was confused by the term, he still couldn’t actually admit to not knowing something. Instead, he blamed someone else for writing something he had never heard before, but also somehow claimed to know what the phrase meant, which is definitely…interesting. “I know what it is but I’ve never heard it before..” one critic wrote on X. “Our f—ing President, folks.”
Others blamed the blunder on cognitive decline. Another commenter joked that the cognitive tests Trump has boasted about “acing” must not have asked him anything about corner stores. “President Dr. Jesus is confused and thankful ‘corner store’ was not on the cognitive test in lieu of the giraffe he has ID’d all four times,” they wrote.
And while some critics agreed that his confusion seemed to be a sign of cognitive decline, they argued that it’s definitely not the first or even the most concerning sign. Discussing the topic on Reddit, someone brought up the time when Trump invited people in the audience to ask him questions about sex. “Really? Corner store is what gave it away?” they questioned. “Not asking a room full of politicians and media to talk about sex?”
However, many people believe Trump is merely “out of touch.”
It’s a new term.
— Jo (@JoJoFromJerz) April 17, 2026
Ya know, like groceries. https://t.co/AK2L9LlSXI
To them, it seems entirely possible that Trump never knew what a corner store was. “This is what being out of touch sounds like,” one critic captioned a clip of Trump. Another person argued that Trump is “spoiled” and “doesn’t understand lives of ordinary people.”
On Reddit, a lot of people were saying the same thing. “That’s not cognitive decline, that’s someone who has never been inside most any store,” one critic said. “That’s someone who doesn’t understand fundamental things about the lives everyone reading this lives.”
Someone else agreed, writing, “This isn’t cognitive decline, though he is loaded with that, this is wealthy detached from normal society. I’d give $1000 to watch him try to put gas in a car.”
After all, as many pointed out, Trump once described the word “groceries” as “such an old-fashioned term but a beautiful term.”
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