🗓️ PROGRAMMING NOTE: Today at 1 pom eastern I am hosting a Substack Live conversation with Steve Vladeck of One First to talk about where we are now when it comes to Donald Trump, the judicial branch and, specifically, the Supreme Court. Tune in here!
In an interview with the Daily Caller at the start of this month, President Donald Trump revealed that he was having a “Presidential Walk of Fame” built in the West Wing Colonnade. It would feature gold-framed (of course) portraits of the presidents.
The Daily Caller reporter — Reagan Reese — then asked about Trump’s predecessor in office. Here’s the exchange that followed:
REESE: You’re going to put President Biden up too?
TRUMP: Okay — show it.
TRUMP: Isn’t that an interesting question.
REESE: I’m curious.
TRUMP: And I’ll listen to you too, because it’s a decision I have to make. We put up a picture of the autopen.
REESE: Oh, that’s hilarious.
TRUMP: He didn’t win the race. He lost badly. He was a horrible president, but can you imagine, he says he has Stage Nine cancer. That was, what? Two, three months ago…
I, stupidly, thought Trump was kidding about using a picture of an autopen — the electronic device presidents use to sign large numbers of documents — rather than a photo of the 46th president.
And not only did they frame a picture of Biden’s autopen signature, the White House spent the day celebrating their incredible comedic genius in having done so.
Here’s an X post from Margo Martin, special assistant to the president:
Before I go any further, let me say this: I am not trying to suggest this is a mountain in the Trump presidency. It’s a dumb picture. It’s not going to decide the 2026 election. Or change voters’ minds about Trump.
But, I do think it is revealing about what sits at the beating heart of Trumpism (and Trump). There’s a core pettiness there. It’s almost as if the trolling — ha ha, we made Biden look stupid! — is the point.
Because, otherwise, why do this? It’s a idiotic joke that a 6th grader would dream up. That Trump (or someone close to him) not only thought of doing this but then it also somehow got green-lit speaks to the fact that there is simply no adult in the room.
And, to be clear: I get the joke. I have a sense of humor. I am not some scold. But, like, this is just dumb? And kind of embarrassing — more to the Trump people than Biden?
I am no Trump hater. But when he does things like this it reminds me that, at root, his presidency is more about trolling people with whom he disagrees than actually making even the faintest attempt of representing the entire country.
And that’s a bad thing — whether a Republican or a Democratic president does it.
