US President Donald Trump has moved to void a wide range of executive actions issued during Joe Biden’s presidency, declaring that any document signed using an autopen — a mechanical device long used by American presidents — is invalid. The announcement marks Trump’s latest escalation in his efforts to challenge the legitimacy of Biden’s time in office.
According to The Guardian, the autopen, patented in 1803, is designed to reproduce a person’s signature using real ink. It has been an accepted administrative tool for generations, used routinely by presidents for correspondence and occasionally for urgent legislation when they were travelling or unavailable to sign in person.
Despite this long-standing practice, Trump claimed that documents approved through the device during the Biden administration were invalid because Biden allegedly did not personally authorise their use. “The Autopen is not allowed to be used if approval is not specifically given by the President of the United States,” Trump said. He argued that Biden’s aides “took the Presidency away from him” by signing documents without proper authority.
Trump went further, declaring that he was “cancelling all Executive Orders, and anything else that was not directly signed by Crooked Joe Biden,” alleging that the use of the device under Biden was illegal. He also claimed, without evidence, that Biden was uninvolved in the signature process — adding that if Biden denied this, he “will be brought up on charges of perjury”.
Long-standing presidential practice
Autopen usage is far from unusual. Presidents from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Barack Obama have used the device. Obama famously used it in 2011 to sign a Patriot Act extension while abroad, while George W. Bush frequently relied on it for condolence messages and routine certifications. Biden, like his predecessors, used the autopen for both routine and time-sensitive documents.
Legal precedent strongly supports the practice. In 2005, the US Department of Justice issued a formal opinion stating that the legality of a presidential action depends not on a handwritten signature but on intent and authorisation. Courts have reinforced this standard for decades.
Legal and administrative uncertainty
Trump’s sweeping declaration is expected to encounter immediate legal challenges. Under US administrative law, the validity of executive actions is tied to presidential approval, not to the physical method of signing. Legal analysts say Trump would need evidence that Biden never authorised the actions — a high bar that could make many of Trump’s cancellations vulnerable in court.
Federal agencies may face confusion about which policies remain in effect, complicating enforcement of rules enacted during the Biden years. If courts uphold autopen signatures as legally equivalent to handwritten ones, many of Trump’s nullifications could be overturned.
Political motivations and reactions
The move is widely seen as part of Trump’s continuing strategy to delegitimise his predecessor and consolidate executive authority. It aligns with his promises to dismantle Biden-era policies on immigration, climate commitments, labour standards, and foreign aid.
Democrats have criticised Trump for manufacturing a constitutional controversy to justify sweeping reversals of prior policies. Republicans, meanwhile, argue that Trump is correcting what they describe as procedural abuses.
Congressional Democrats are expected to pursue hearings and may introduce legislation to reaffirm the legality of autopen usage.
Impact on foreign relations
Trump’s action also carries potential diplomatic repercussions. Biden-era commitments — from climate partnerships to refugee resettlement and visa agreements — could be cast into doubt until clarified. Analysts warn that such uncertainty may weaken confidence among foreign governments in the stability of US policy, particularly affecting countries dependent on immigration and student visa agreements, including Pakistan.
Officials in Washington have already expressed concern that retroactively invalidating executive actions may undermine long-term trust in America’s governing continuity.
A new flashpoint in polarised US politics
The autopen controversy reflects the intensely personalised nature of current US political conflict. Trump has repeatedly highlighted Biden’s use of the device to portray him as unfit for office. In a post on Truth Social, he claimed that “approximately 92 per cent” of Biden’s documents were signed using the autopen — asserting, “Any document signed by Sleepy Joe Biden with the Autopen… is hereby terminated.”
While the practical impact of Trump’s cancellations remains uncertain pending legal review, the move signals further polarisation in Washington and introduces new complications for domestic governance and America’s international commitments.
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