With a bizarre rhetorical flourish only he can muster, on Tuesday, January 6, 2026, President Trump admitted to House Republicans at a retreat that he, too, uses an autopen to sign documents in the Oval Office — the very criticism Trump often levies against his predecessor, Joe Biden.
Speaking to Republican lawmakers at a closed-door GOP gathering on the 5th anniversary of the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, Trump went off topic, saying, “And by the way, you ought to make a big deal out of the autopen. The autopen was your president,” Trump said of Biden. He went on to claim, without evidence, that Biden’s documents were overwhelmingly signed mechanically rather than by hand. Trump also repeated an oft-cited but unsubstantiated figure, claiming “95%” of Biden’s documents were signed by an autopen.
Trump contrasted that claim with his own approach, saying that while he previously signed “very little” with an autopen, he now personally signs nearly everything. He cited a recent ceremony elevating a military officer to four-star general as an example of a moment that, in his view, demanded a handwritten signature.
Trump said he signed the document in front of the general and displayed it as proof, insisting, “You gotta sign it. You can’t give it to an autopen.”
Trump also quipped that Biden’s real signature is “a mess,” adding another jab by claiming the only document Biden clearly signed himself was his son Hunter Biden’s pardon, a statement unsubstantiated by public records.
Autopens: ‘Wonderful things’
TRUMP ON BIDEN: "The autopen was your president."
— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 6, 2026
"The only thing he signed was — which is nice — was Hunter's pardon." pic.twitter.com/IEB7z5ScyE
The president then described how autopens work, telling lawmakers they can be identified by “two little tiny dots,” which he attributed to mechanical pins. “They go bing, pow, bing pow,” Trump said, calling the devices “wonderful things” even as he argued they should not be used for major presidential actions.
Despite acknowledging his own use of an autopen, Trump returned to a familiar line of attack, claiming Biden’s use was unauthorized and excessive. He asserted that the individual operating the autopen for Biden “barely knew the president” and suggested they had spoken only twice, “about the weather.”
Trump’s autopen Biden criticisms
BREAKING: Trump used Autopen last week on Pardons. pic.twitter.com/JD1e4rQq7B
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) November 12, 2025
Trump has for years criticized Biden’s use of the device, particularly after reports that Biden relied on it to sign routine documents while traveling or during periods of heavy workload. Trump and his allies have argued that this practice raised questions about Biden’s awareness and involvement in official actions, a claim Biden has firmly rejected. Biden has consistently said he personally approved all decisions, even when later, an autopen was used for his signature.
Legal experts have repeatedly stated that there is no constitutional or statutory prohibition against a president using an autopen. The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel has previously concluded that a president may direct the use of an autopen to sign legislation or other official documents, and courts have not invalidated presidential actions on that basis.
Trump himself has acknowledged autopen use before. In November 2025, the Department of Justice was forced to replace several of Trump’s own pardon documents after they were found to feature identical mechanical signatures. During his first term, White House officials confirmed that autopens were occasionally used for routine correspondence and proclamations, a common practice across modern administrations.
