We promise, this is not an April Fool’s Day joke. At the White House this afternoon, President Trump held a signing ceremony for his two latest executive orders — and apparently forgot to sign them… while live on camera.
As you can see for yourself in a live-video posted to YouTube by the White House earlier today, after introducing the executive orders, then letting Vice President Mike Pence and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross speak briefly, Trump steps back up to brag about the orders one last time. Then he walks right out of the room without actually signing anything — at the signing ceremony he organized himself. Watch it below.
We’ll be honest, it’s hard to pick the best moment. Is it the look on their faces when Pence and the other attendees slowly realize what happened? Is Pence hastily shuffling to the door, gingerly patting Trump on the back to let him know? Is it when Trump effortlessly pulls an “I meant to do that” and orders Pence to grab the folder for him?
No, it’s definitely when Pence awkwardly walks over to the President’s desk to pick up the unsigned document, with a pained expression that only somewhat resembles “no this is planned guys.”
By the way, we can be fairly certain this wasn’t planned. The White House posted an edited version of the video sometime later, but that one cuts off just before Trump blunders out of the room.
Again, this is not an intentional April Fool’s Day joke. But it is one that has been pulled nonethless on American history.