President Donald Trump described a phone call about custom-made Sharpies at Thursday’s Cabinet meeting — but a spokesperson for the pen brand told The Washington Post the conversation he recounted didn’t happen.
“We don’t have any information about the conversation described. We’re proud to be a beloved brand trusted by so many globally,” a spokesperson for Newell Brands, which makes Sharpies, told the outlet.
The Independent has contacted the White House and Newell Brands for comment.
Trump launched into his Sharpie anecdote about an hour into his latest Cabinet meeting, where administration officials were discussing several pressing topics, including the Iran war and the Department of Homeland Security shutdown.
“This pen is very inexpensive, but it writes well, I like it,” Trump said, holding up a marker. “But I can’t have the pen the way it was — you know what it is? I don’t want to give too much publicity, but they do treat me well, Sharpie.”
The president then complained about how he was handing out expensive pens after signing events.
“So, I came here, they have $1,000 pens. And you know, you hand pens out, you’re signing and you hand them out. You’re handing them to all these people, sometimes you have 30 or 40 people and they were $1,000 a piece,” he said.
Trump said he “felt guilty,” and wanted to find a way to save money.
“I want to save money, so I’m saying, ‘This is crazy.’ And I had another problem; they didn’t write well. So, I take it out and I sign it and there’s no ink and I’ve got all you people looking and you’re saying, ‘There must be something wrong with Trump.’ I’m signing and there’s no ink in the pen and it cost $1,000,” he explained.
“That’s when I called the guy. I said, ‘I’d like to use your pen, but I can’t have a gray thing with a big S on it saying ‘Sharpie’ as I’m signing a $1 trillion airplane contract to buy brand new fighter jets,’” he added.
After a brief aside about former President Joe Biden and his “autopen,” Trump continued: “He said, ‘Well, I can make it nicer.’”
“‘I said, ‘What can you do?’ He said, ‘I’ll paint it black.’ I said, ‘That’s nice.’ ‘And I can even paint the White House on it, sir, if you like, in gold.’ Almost real gold, not bad. ‘And I can even do your signature, sir.’”
Trump then briefly turned to other topics, including the Federal Reserve building, before returning to Sharpies.
The president said: “So the guy said to me, ‘You don’t have to pay me, sir, I’ll give them to you for nothing.’ I said, ‘No, I don’t want that. Let me pay you. I want to pay you.’ ‘No, sir, you don’t have to. You’re the president of the United States.’”
“He was shocked — the head of Sharpie gets a call, I don’t even know who the hell he is. He said, ‘Is this really the president?’ He said, ‘No, you don’t have to pay me, sir. This is such an honor.’ I said, ‘Nope, I want to pay you.’”
“He said, ‘What would you like to pay?’ I said, ‘How about five bucks a pen?’ He said, ‘That’s all right.’ Whatever the hell we agreed to, peanuts as opposed to $1,000.”
Trump called the anecdote a “business story.”
“So, for $5 — it could be zero — but for $5 I get a much better pen than for $1,000. And I can hand them out and actually they become hot as a pistol,” he said.
Social media users were quick to react to Trump’s anecdote.
“Ohhhhkaaayyy,” writer Tom Nichols posted on X.
“Wow. I’m going to be saying ‘WTF?’ all day long,” another user wrote.
