Political discourse is considered from the point of view of its components and types among which media discourseб typical for the media and their requirementsб is of special interest. It is aimed at mass audience and shows the political world based on professional politicians’ opinions and world perception. The language used by politicians in interviews to target ordinary people and slang in particular is studied. The interpretation of slang is given and its functions are described. Political slang represented in interviews of the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin and the President of the USA D. Trump is analyzed. Word-formation models in Russian and American political slang are identified and compared. The dependence of slang functions on them is considered. The conclusion is made that there are some similar word-formation models in Russian and English, and their differences are due to the languages themselves one of which is analytic while another one is synthetic. However, the functions performed by slang words formed on the base of similar or slightly different word-formation models are the same. Moreover, the principle of using slang in the speech of politicians is associated with the emotional component of the first.