USA24 September, 20262 min read
Trump Mocks Biden With Autopen Portrait During White House Tour With Xi Jinping
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Trump shows Xi an autopen portrait replacing Biden's, prompting Xi's laughter. The display depicts Biden as an automated signing device.
Autopen Jibe at White House
President Donald Trump mocked former President Joe Biden during a White House tour with Chinese President Xi Jinping by pointing to a framed display that replaced Biden’s portrait with an autopen signing device.
“Trump drew Xi’s attention to the image and said, according to a video released by the White House: ‘This is the AutoPen... it’s Biden.’”
Trump told Xi, "And, this is the autopen... It's Biden," and Xi Jinping and his interpreter broke into audible laughter during the stop along the White House Colonnade.
The White House account on X posted the video with the caption: "This is the automated signing pen... it’s Biden," and the clip circulated widely after Trump repeated, "It’s Biden."
Trump’s remarks came as the tour moved through the "Presidents' Hall of Fame" and the "Presidential Walk of Fame," where images and plaques memorialize American presidents and displays included arrangements added during Trump’s second term.
Criticism and laughter
Former Congressman John Delaney condemned the episode, writing on X, "The President mocking a former President in front of the communist leader of China is the most un-American thing an American president has ever done." Gerard Baker, the executive editor of The Wall Street Journal, called the scene "extremely despicable," while journalist and U.S. diplomatic correspondent Edward Wong urged Americans, regardless of political leanings, to pause and reflect on the implications of the moment.
Sarah Matthews, a former White House aide during Trump’s administration, criticized the incident by saying ridiculing Biden in front of the Chinese president does not align with the rhetoric Trump promotes of "America First." Elon Musk reacted with a tears-of-laughter emoji, and the White House posted the exchange with a laughing emoji as Xi laughed audibly at Trump’s mockery.
Diplomacy, trade, and pandas
Xi responded to Trump’s effusiveness by noting in his speech that the two leaders had "built personal rapport," while analysts quoted by The Straits Times said the visit left them wanting more substance. Stephen Roach told The Straits Times, "So far, all show and no substance," and he said the "two-month trade extension was disappointingly short" as the tariff-and-trade truce was extended to Jan 10, 2027.
“‘So far, all show and no substance,’ Stephen Roach, a prominent analyst of the US-China economic relationship, told The Straits Times.”
Xi urged the US to "adhere to the correct position of opposing Taiwan independence" during the visit, and Daniel Russel called the summit "diplotainment" while saying the spectacle outweighed substantive talks. Xi announced two giant pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, for Zoo Atlanta and invited 100,000 young Americans to China for exchanges, while the autopen moment remained a focal point of the state visit coverage.