PoliticsDonald Trump Mocks Joe Biden as He Explains the Autopen to Kids During White House Event While Suggesting They Sell His Signature for $25,000
Donald Trump explained the autopen during the White House Easter Egg Roll.
April 9 2026, Published 9:31 a.m. ET
The White House Easter Egg Roll is usually a soft-focus photo op built around pastel eggs, smiling families, and polite small talk, but this year, President Donald Trump turned one of the event’s most wholesome moments into a political riff, using a table of children’s drawings to revive a familiar talking point: former President Joe Biden’s use of the autopen.
While signing drawings, he joked that signed ones could sell online.
Trump sat with children on the South Lawn and offered to sign their artwork, joking that they could “sell them for $25,000 on eBay” later that night. The kids, predictably thrilled, held up their pages and asked for signatures. Trump obliged, and then veered into a mini-monologue about presidential signatures.
A Holiday Craft Table Becomes a Campaign-Style Stage
The Easter craft table turned into a Joe Biden jab.
As he signed, Trump reportedly picked out one drawing he especially liked and joked that by signing it, he could claim he drew it himself. Then he pivoted to Biden, repeating his long-running allegation that his predecessor relied too heavily on an autopen.
Trump told the children that Biden had “an autopen follow him,” describing the machine as if it were a constant companion. The implication was that Biden was “incapable of signing his name” — a claim Trump has made before but that has never been verified.
Trump has repeatedly attacked Biden’s use of autopen signatures, even though presidents of both parties have used the tool for decades to sign official documents.
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The Autopen Argument, Revisited
The South Lawn moment blended politics with family fun.
The autopen itself is not new, and it is not secret. It is a device that reproduces a signature and has been used by multiple administrations for years. Biden defended the practice in a 2025 interview with The New York Times, saying he authorized autopen use for pardons and clemency and stressing that the tool is legal.
Trump has publicly argued otherwise, at one point calling Biden’s autopen use “totally illegal.” He has also tried to turn the issue into a visual symbol, replacing a photo of Biden on the White House Presidential Walk of Fame with an image of an autopen.
Legal experts, however, have said Trump cannot retroactively void Biden’s pardons.
Viral Moments and a Made-For-TV Setting
A child praised the president during the autopen discussion.
Amid the viral interaction, another crowd-pleasing moment came when a child called out, “Donald Trump, you’re the best president!” and Trump answered, “Thank you, honey. I agree.”
The rest of the event leaned heavily into family-friendly spectacle. The South Lawn was packed with attractions including egg decorating, mini golf, military card-writing stations, and an “AI-Creation Station,” plus live chickens and a sensory-friendly egg hunt.
