Trump Drags Kids Into Weirdest Signing Ceremony Yet

President Donald Trump didn’t arrive alone at the televised signing of his executive order that aims to eliminate the Department of Education.

He brought over a dozen children along for the ride.

The kids sat at school desks behind the president as he signed the order and held it up for the cameras. They mirrored his actions—each one signing their version of the order and holding it up in unison.

The bizarre spectacle was attended by Republican governors, Republican congress members, and members of conservative activist organizations, as well as teachers and the kids’ families.

When Trump approached the desk for the signing, he asked the kids, who were already seated, “Should I do this?”

A smattering said yes, and there were several nods.

The kids’ inclusion in the ceremony quickly became fodder for online discourse.

The left-leaning political commentary account Patriot Takes suggested that the president was using the children as “props.”

ArtCandee, another popular anti-Trump account, observed that one of the kids appeared to be giving the president “side eye” as he arrived.

Pro-Trump users, on the other hand, praised the move.

“I have tears in my eyes,” wrote the popular account MAGA Voice. “Not only did Trump sign the Executive Order, the KIDS around him also signed their own Executive Orders. So historic.”

Bo Loudon, an 18-year-old MAGA influencer who is friends with Barron Trump, wrote that the president is “SO GOOD with kids” alongside a clip of the scene.

Although Trump said on Thursday that his order would “begin eliminating the federal Department of Education once and for all,” he conceded that doing so would require action by Congress.

“The Department of Education will be much smaller than it is today,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said before the signing. “When it comes to student loans and Pell grants, those will still be run out of the Department of Education.”

Since entering office, Trump has sought to dismantle the Education Department, which was established by Congress in 1979, in an effort to leave education entirely to the states.