President Donald Trump, 79, stumbled over his words as he read from his own comically large notes during an executive order signing on Tuesday.
After he signed an order to restrict mail-in voting rules nationwide in his latest attempt to tighten his grip on American elections, the geriatric president launched into a lengthy tangent about his beloved vanity project, the $400 million White House ballroom.
Reading from his own notes, which appeared to be written with his favorite black Sharpie—in a size not dissimilar to that of Founding Father John Hancock—Trump experienced some difficulty as he read a few words in particular.
“Basically, he’s saying I need congressional approval,” Trump said, referring to the federal judge who ordered the administration to halt his White House ballroom project. “I see right here, I just wrote it down, he said we need congressional approval.”
“He also said—but this is positive for us—I’m allowed that, meaning we are allowed, to continue building as necessary to, let’s see..." the president continued, appearing to be stumped by the next word for a few moments.
“What is that? To...” he said, before figuring out the word. “Cover the safety and security of the White House and its grounds.”
The president regained his linguistic footing for a while, talking about how everything on the White House grounds is protected with “bulletproof glass,” including his ballroom.
Trump made multiple mentions of how they were allowed to continue building “as necessary” as long as the White House and its grounds, including the safety of the president and his staff, were protected.
“Just so you know, I wrote some of the things down,” he continued, pointing at his largely written notes.
“We have a drone-proof roof—and it talks about the president and his staff—well, we’re gonna have a lot of bulletproof glass, the White House was built a long time ago," he rambled, before getting stuck on another one-syllable word.
“This has the highest level of, in fact, they call this graph... this, uh, grass, this, uh, the glass, uh,” Trump said. “It’s bulletproof, and it’s ballistic-proof.”
Reached for comment, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle shared a frequently recycled statement with the Daily Beast: “President Trump is the sharpest, most accessible, and energetic president in American history. While the deranged and failing Daily Beast has their lightweight, glue-sniffing ‘reporters’ push baseless conspiracy theories—President Trump is working around the clock to make our country greater than ever before.”
Ingle, 31, is a communications graduate of Florida’s Southeastern University, where his father, Kent Ingle, is president. SEU boasts that more than two-thirds of its students attend online or through extension courses at 200 “partner sites,” which do not have to be accredited.
Tuesday’s verbal fumble is comparable to other instances of the president’s word salads throughout his second term.
Last month, the president experienced a concerning stumble during an event celebrating him as the “Undisputed Champion of Coal.”
“I’m proud to officially name the undispuut...” Trump said, before mumbling unintelligibly for about two seconds.
“When did this come out? Mr. Speaker,” he said, before getting back on track. “The undisputed champion of beautiful, clean coal.”
The Daily Beast has extensively chronicled the president’s various ailments, from his bruised hands, swollen cankles, and neck rash, to falling asleep during public events.
