President Donald Trump used a portrait depicting an autopen to mock former President Joe Biden during a White House tour with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The joke drew criticism from former U.S. officials, conservatives and other observers who said Trump had disrespected a former president in front of a foreign leader.
Trump points out autopen portrait to Xi
President Donald Trump drew sharp criticism Thursday after using a White House portrait display to mock former President Joe Biden while showing Chinese President Xi Jinping around the building.
A video posted by the White House X account showed Trump and Xi walking through the Presidential Walk of Fame, a West Colonnade exhibit featuring gold-framed portraits of past presidents. Trump installed the display last September.
Biden’s portrait has been replaced by an image of an autopen, a signature device that Trump and his allies have cited while arguing that Biden’s aides used the machine to approve pardons and executive orders because Biden was mentally unfit. Biden has denied that claim.
As he walked with Xi, Trump pointed toward the portraits on both sides of the autopen image and repeated his own name. “Trump, Trump,” he said before adding, “This is the autopen…It’s Biden.” Trump then patted Xi on the arm.
Critics call the exchange embarrassing
The people accompanying Trump and Xi laughed during the exchange. Reactions from others watching the video were far less amused, with critics objecting to Trump’s decision to ridicule a former American president while hosting the leader of China.
Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia, said the scene reflected poorly on the country and the White House. “As an American, I find this so embarrassing,” McFaul wrote. “He calls it the people’s house, but he does not treat it as the people’s house.”
McFaul acknowledged that Americans could have policy disagreements with Biden but said the former president still received the votes of 81 million people. “To treat him with such disrespect is appalling,” McFaul said. “To force a foreign guest to participate in your ridicule of Biden is even worse.”
The criticism crossed political lines. Philip Klein, editor of National Review Online, a conservative opinion outlet, wrote: “I hate this.” He contrasted Biden’s status as a former U.S. president with Xi’s position as the leader of a major American adversary.
Republican critics reject the Biden jab
Joe Walsh, a former Republican congressman, also condemned the episode. “He’s a grotesque human being,” Walsh wrote, describing the moment as “a despicable cheap shot at an American president to make a communist dictator laugh.”
Gregg Nunziata, a former counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee who also served in Republican circles, offered a shorter reaction: “How embarrassing for us,” he wrote.
The display reflects the broader dispute over Biden’s use of the autopen. Trump and his allies have argued that the device’s use raises questions about whether Biden personally authorized official actions, including pardons and orders. Biden rejects the allegation that aides improperly acted in his place.
The disagreement over those actions was presented during Thursday’s tour as part of the White House’s permanent presidential display. Trump’s decision to draw Xi’s attention to the altered portrait turned the political dispute into a public exchange with a foreign leader, prompting critics to focus less on the autopen claim than on the setting and the manner of the joke.
