In a move sparking significant legal and political debate, President Donald Trump announced Friday the reversal of numerous executive orders and documents signed during Joe Biden’s presidency. Trump claims these documents were improperly executed using an ‘autopen,’ asserting that the vast majority of Biden’s decisions were not personally signed by his predecessor, rendering them illegitimate.
Trump, in a series of posts on his social media platform Truth Social, stated that approximately 92% of presidential documents from Biden’s term were ‘signed by autopen.’ He declared these documents ‘null and void, no longer in effect and without any force.’ He further escalated his criticism, accusing Biden of not being involved in the signing process.
“Biden was not involved in the automatic signing of documents, and if he claims otherwise, he will be accused of perjury,” Trump stated.
Trump elaborated, “I am now rescinding all executive orders, and anything else not directly signed by the corrupt Joe Biden, because the people using the autopen did so illegally.” He added that “the autopen is not permitted to be used unless specific consent is given by the President of the United States.”
Trump has frequently expressed outrage over Biden’s alleged use of the autopen for signing pardons, executive orders, and other official documents. He has repeatedly suggested that the 82-year-old former president was suffering from cognitive decline and therefore unfit to govern, implying that Biden’s staff were able to control the White House and sign decisions on his behalf without his knowledge.
The legality of Trump’s action remains unclear. Reports indicate that the ‘autopen’ is not an unfamiliar tool in the White House, used to replicate signatures automatically. The Department of Justice issued a legal opinion in 2005 stating that the President is not required to sign legislation by hand and can direct an official to affix his signature using an autopen.
