Political discourse is considered from the point of view of the theory of political cognition which unites individual uniqueness, types of political discourse and representatives of political groups and institutions being basic parts of different levels forming the political domain. Semantic and pragmatic categories of political discourse taking into account the theory of mental and context models are analyzed. Triggers as a technique used by politicians to convey information and influence the target audience are studied. Ways to interpret triggers as well as the classification of their types proposed by Russian and foreign linguists are considered. Triggers used by the president of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin and the ex-president of the USA D. Trump in interviews to TV channels and news agencies are analyzed. Types of triggers, their mental and context models, the target audience and functions of triggers in political discourse are identified and compared. The conclusion is made that four of five context models which were identified are similar but the frequency of their use by political leaders is not the same. Different variants of the fifth context model in the examined fragments of political discourse can be explained with the help of one of semantic and pragmatic categories, namely the image of the Russian president and the ex-president of the USA affected by their personal traits of character.