President Donald J. Trump has now reportedly said he intends to install a portrait in the White House Rose Garden highlighting former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s reliance on the autopen, a move he described as both symbolic and controversial.
In an interview with the Daily Caller, Trump previewed the forthcoming “Presidential Wall of Fame” and was asked whether his predecessor would be represented. “Isn’t that an interesting question,” he replied. “We put up a picture of the autopen.” Holding up a rendering of the portrait, the president added, “This is going to be very controversial.”
The remark is the latest example of Trump’s willingness to spotlight Mr. Biden’s presidency in unflattering terms. He reiterated his view that Mr. Biden was an ineffective leader, citing both his health struggles and his political record.
Mr. Biden was diagnosed in May with an aggressive form of prostate cancer, “characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone,” according to his personal office.
Trump told the Daily Caller: “He didn’t win the race. He lost badly. He was a horrible president, but can you imagine, he says he has Stage 9 cancer. That was, what? Two, three months ago.”
Trump has long criticized Mr. Biden for using an autopen to authorize documents, even as he acknowledged employing it himself on occasion. The distinction, Trump has argued, is that his own use was limited to “very unimportant papers,” while he believes Mr. Biden leaned on the device excessively. In Monday’s interview, Mr. Trump said Mr. Biden “should not have used the autopen at all.”
The president’s critique has been bolstered by testimony from former aides. Ian Sams, who served as a special assistant to Mr. Biden and senior adviser in the White House counsel’s office, told a House Republican panel in a voluntary interview that he had met in person with Mr. Biden only twice during his tenure.
To conservatives, that acknowledgment reinforced longstanding concerns about how active Mr. Biden truly was in the day-to-day duties of the presidency.
Mr. Biden has defended himself, telling The New York Times earlier this year that he personally made “every single one of those” decisions tied to documents signed by autopen. He accused Republicans of lying when they claimed he was incapacitated during the later months of his presidency.
Trump, for his part, has used his second term not only to draw contrasts with his predecessor but also to reshape the White House grounds. Alongside the Rose Garden renovations, he is building a massive new $200 million ballroom. Asked whether he planned to name the addition after himself, he replied: “Well, I’m the one that gets to name it.” He added, “I hate to — I’m putting up my money and donations. You know, there’s no money by the government.”
With his Rose Garden portrait series and ambitious ballroom project, Mr. Trump is making clear that he intends both to memorialize his presidency and to define his predecessor’s — in ways that underscore the sharp political divide between them.
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