Washington, D.C. – November 29, 2025 – In a bold and unprecedented move, U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he is invalidating all documents signed by his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, using an autopen—a mechanical device that replicates a signature. The declaration, posted on Trump's Truth Social platform, targets what Trump claims amounts to approximately 92% of Biden's executive orders and other official actions, alleging they were executed without Biden's direct personal approval.
"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 in the post, which quickly garnered millions of views and shares across social media. He further argued that the device's use violated federal protocols, stating, "The Autopen is not allowed to be used if approval is not specifically given by the President of the United States." Trump accused Biden's advisers of effectively "taking the Presidency away from him" by managing approvals remotely, and vowed to cancel all executive orders and related actions processed through the mechanism, deeming them "illegal."
The announcement extends beyond executive orders to potentially include pardons, legislative signings, and other presidential directives. Trump specifically highlighted high-profile pardons issued by Biden in his final days in office, such as those for members of the January 6th Select Committee, former Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and Hunter Biden—actions that conservatives have long decried as politically motivated. "I am hereby cancelling all Executive Orders, and anything else that was not directly signed by Crooked Joe Biden, because the people who operated the Autopen did so illegally," Trump added, suggesting that Biden could face perjury charges if he claims personal involvement in the process. "Joe Biden was not involved in the Autopen process and, if he says he was, he will be brought up on charges of perjury," he warned.
This is not the first time Trump has targeted Biden's autopen usage. During the 2024 campaign and in the early months of his second term, Trump ordered investigations into what he called a "conspiracy" to conceal Biden's mental state through automated signatures. House Republicans, led by the Oversight Committee, amplified these claims last month, declaring autopen-signed actions "void" without "proper, corresponding, contemporaneous, written approval" from Biden himself and urging the Department of Justice to probe potential fraud. The Oversight Project, a conservative watchdog group, released a report in October 2025 alleging irregularities in over 150 documents, including discrepancies in signature styles and timestamps that suggested remote operation without Biden's oversight.
Legal experts, however, have swiftly pushed back against Trump's unilateral declaration, emphasizing that autopens have been a staple of presidential administration since the Truman era. The Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel issued a 2005 memo affirming that presidents can authorize subordinates to affix their signature via autopen for bills and executive actions, provided the president consents to the content. Barack Obama famously used an autopen in 2011 to sign a Patriot Act extension while abroad in France, drawing brief Republican criticism at the time but no successful legal challenges. Trump himself employed the device during his first term for routine matters, though he has downplayed this while criticizing Biden.
"It's legally dubious at best," said constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe in an interview with NBC News following the announcement. "Presidents can revoke executive orders, but retroactively nullifying a predecessor's actions on the basis of signature method alone would require congressional buy-in or a court ruling. This smells more like political theater than enforceable policy." The White House has not yet issued a formal response, but Biden aides, speaking anonymously, dismissed the claims as "vindictive nonsense" rooted in Trump's obsession with his successor's fitness.
The political fallout was immediate and polarized. On X (formerly Twitter), conservative influencers celebrated the move as a triumph of accountability. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) posted, "If Autopen Pardons are repealed then prosecute Fauci for crimes against humanity," linking it to broader calls for investigations into COVID-19 policies. The Oversight Committee's official account praised Trump, stating, "Thank you President Trump for taking our historic Autopen investigation and findings seriously," and vowed to pursue "fraudulent documents still being treated with legal effect." Posts from MAGA supporters trended under hashtags like #AutopenGate and #BidenFraud, with one viral thread compiling side-by-side images of Biden's varying signatures to argue forgery.
Democrats, meanwhile, decried the announcement as an abuse of power aimed at erasing Biden's legacy on climate, immigration, and social equity. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called it "a dangerous precedent that undermines the rule of law," warning that it could invite future presidents to invalidate actions on similarly flimsy grounds. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) issued a statement labeling it "an authoritarian stunt," predicting lawsuits from affected parties, including environmental groups reliant on Biden's executive orders for clean energy mandates.
Biden issued 162 executive orders over his four-year term, per the American Presidency Project—a tally that includes landmark actions like rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, pausing federal student loan collections, and advancing racial equity initiatives. While exact figures on autopen usage remain classified, a 2024 CNN report confirmed Biden employed it for a federal aviation funding extension while traveling on the West Coast, a standard practice to prevent lapses in essential services.
