Former first lady Jill Biden was one of the key figures managing President Joe Biden behind the scenes, according to President Donald Trump, but he added he doesn’t believe she was the one responsible for operating the autopen to forge her husband’s signature on key orders.
A report published by the New York Post earlier this year alleged that an unnamed Biden aide used an autopen to sign official documents without other staff knowing whether President Biden had actually authorized the actions.
A staffer would say they were acting on “the boss’s” orders, but no one would question it, according to one of two unnamed former aides cited in the report.
Asked by Fox News personality Rachel Campos-Duffy — wife of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy — if the former first lady was the one wielding or controlling the autopen, Trump said: “No, I don’t think so…[but] she was certainly involved because he gave her the last meeting to preside over with the Cabinet.”
Trump was commenting on the former first lady’s controversial presence at one of Biden’s final Cabinet meetings in September 2024.
The extent of Jill Biden’s alleged influence over Joe Biden and his administration had been a longstanding point of controversy even before the Cabinet meeting in September. Trump, however, attributed that influence not solely to Jill, but to what he called “radical left lunatics” surrounding the former president.
“They [the Biden administration] had a lot of bad people. They had a lot of radical left lunatics in there, and I think he was perfect. He was perfect for them because he didn’t have a clue,” Trump said, adding that Joe Biden “was perfect for them” because he likely lacked the mental capacity to actually serve as president.
Concerns about Joe Biden’s health and cognitive abilities were a recurring issue during his time in office, particularly following his debate performance against then-GOP nominee Trump last summer. Since Biden’s departure from the White House, several newly released books have shed light on his physical and mental fitness while in office.
In the months since Biden’s exit from the White House, newly released books have provided fresh insight into the former president’s health and capacity to serve.
Meanwhile, Trump has continued to highlight his own mental and physical fitness for office. After completing his annual physical at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Friday, Trump said he feels he’s in “very good shape” overall.
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One while flying to his home in West Palm Beach, Florida, Friday evening that the annual presidential physical showed he has a “good heart, a good soul,” and “overall, I think I’m in very — I felt I was in very good shape,” according to Fox.
In another slight dig at Biden, Trump said he also retook the same cognitive test he’s aced several times in the past during his first term.
“I think it’s a pretty well-known test. Whatever it is, I got every one — I got it all right… I’ve taken the cognitive test, I think, four times and I’ve gotten nothing wrong. That’s what the American people want,” he said. “Biden refused to take it, Kamala [Harris] refused to take it.”
Speaking of Harris, there does not appear to be many Californians dreaming of her these days.
A majority of Golden State “policy influencers” expressed skepticism about Harris’s chances of competing for governor in 2026, when incumbent Democrat Gavin Newsom is prevented from running owing to term limits.
According to a survey conducted by Politico and UC Berkeley’s Citrin Center, 36% of respondents were “indifferent” to the thought of Harris running, 22% were “mostly excited,” 20% were “irritated,” and 4% were “outraged.”
State and federal lawmakers and staffers were among those surveyed, as were subscribers to Politico’s news products, California Playbook, POLITICO Pro in California, and California Climate.
