President Donald Trump announced Friday that any document signed by former President Joe Biden using an autopen is now “hereby terminated,” escalating the administration’s ongoing challenge to Biden’s use of the signature technology during his time in office.
The autopen, a device that reproduces a person’s signature without requiring them to physically write it, long sparked controversy during Biden’s presidency. Critics frequently accused the former president of relying on the device excessively, with some arguing that documents were signed without Biden’s direct involvement or awareness. Those accusations fed broader concerns about Biden’s mental acuity during his final years in office—a topic his opponents seized upon repeatedly.
Biden, for his part, denied ever being out of the loop. He insisted that he personally authorized every pardon and action bearing his signature, including those issued in the last days of his administration.
But Trump, in a sharply worded Truth Social post Friday, declared that nearly all documents signed by Biden using the autopen—“approximately 92% of them,” he claimed—are void.
“Any document signed by Sleepy Joe Biden with the Autopen, which was approximately 92% of them, is hereby terminated, and of no further force or effect,” Trump wrote. “The Autopen is not allowed to be used if approval is not specifically given by the President of the United States.”
Trump alleged that Biden was effectively sidelined during his presidency and that what he called “Radical Left Lunatics” in the White House used the autopen in his place. According to Trump, the individuals who operated the device acted illegally. “The Radical Left Lunatics circling Biden around the beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office took the Presidency away from him,” he wrote.
He added that he is “cancelling all Executive Orders, and anything else that was not directly signed by Crooked Joe Biden.” Trump further warned that if Biden claims to have approved the autopen’s use, “he will be brought up on charges of perjury.”
The president signed off his post with, “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The announcement continues a months-long effort by the Trump administration to invalidate Biden-era actions tied to autopen use. Previous statements from Trump officials suggested they viewed the practice as an abuse of presidential authority and a breach of legal standards governing executive signatures.
According to CNN’s coverage of the post, the legality of Trump’s sweeping declaration remains unclear. Autopen use itself has long been permitted under certain conditions, and various administrations have relied on it for routine, authorized tasks. Whether a president can retroactively nullify documents signed by a previous administration using the device has not been tested.
Still, Trump’s move fits a broader pattern of aggressively reversing Biden-era policies and calling into question the legitimacy of how those policies were enacted.
As the administration prepares to outline which documents are affected, Trump’s decision has already sparked debate over presidential authority, executive continuity, and the process by which official documents must be authenticated.
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