- On Friday night, the president tweeted a picture of himself and a stack of folders, presumably stocked with bills ready for him to sign.
- “Some of the many Bills that I am signing in the Oval Office right now,” the president said, before criticizing the Democrats for failing to “help protect America’s Southern Border!”
- When the tweet was posted, Twitter users were quick to point out that the bill on the president’s desk seemed blank.
It was the night before the third government shutdown of the year, when all through the House not a Democrat was stirring, not willing to budge.
So President Donald Trump went on Twitter and criticized them for blocking his efforts to secure $5 billion for a border wall. He did so while saying he cancelled his winter getaway to Mar-a-Lago (where he was expected to be for 16 days) and by posing next to a large pile of bills that he was set on signing, starting with the one sitting on his desk.
Some of the many Bills that I am signing in the Oval Office right now. Cancelled my trip on Air Force One to Florida while we wait to see if the Democrats will help us to protect America’s Southern Border! pic.twitter.com/ws6LYhKcKl
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 21, 2018
Twitter users were quick to note, however, that that bill seemed empty. Zooming in on the picture, it is hard to tell whether the bill is actually blank because of the image’s light conditions.
Nonetheless, the internet is having a field day over the picture.
This photo of the president sternly pretending to sign a blank piece of paper is, as many have noted, amazing https://t.co/udnr5C7wT5
— Amanda Katz (@katzish) December 23, 2018
Do you hand write the bill from start to finish? I ask because the sheet is blank. #FakeBills #workinghard
— Stonebridge Joe (@JoeMcGuire78) December 22, 2018
That paper is blank. pic.twitter.com/TgpPGJHdJn
— Nathaniel Martin (@nateelias1993) December 22, 2018
Signing a blank piece of paper with a pen that has the cap on…you can take Trump out of reality TV but you can never take the reality TV out of Trump… pic.twitter.com/qk7ybnxAGk
— An intelligent, logical American (@aLogicalAmerica) December 22, 2018
Other users pointed out that the number of bills on the desk didn’t match the number of laws passed by the president that day which, according to govtrack.us, was two. No more bills have been signed since December 21, the date of the tweet.
Read more: Trump’s being slammed for this photo of his desk – here are past presidents’ desks for comparison
Here, in a picture from January 2017, Trump similarly signs bills on his desk, under similar light conditions. Some text is visible in the image.
President Trump didn’t react to the criticism online and instead wished Ruth Bader Ginsburg a speedy recovery and doubled down on his claim that the only thing that will stop migrants from Latin America from reaching the United States is “great border security, with a wall, or a slat fence, or whatever you want to call it.”
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