Trump Shows "That's Biden" Autopen Photo... Xi Jinping Bursts into Laughter

SCMP: "A Sharp Contrast to Xi’s Usual Composure During State Visits"

Chinese President Xi Jinping, who visited the White House, burst into laughter after hearing a joke by U.S. President Donald Trump about the 'Biden Autopen' (autopen, a device for automatic signatures).

Chinese President Xi Jinping smiling while looking at a framed "Biden Autopen" at the White House. Screenshot from the White House's X (formerly Twitter).

On the 24th (local time), the White House posted a video on its official social media account, X (formerly Twitter), showing the U.S. and Chinese leaders walking through the Presidential Walk of Fame in the West Wing Colonnade as they made their way to the venue for the U.S.-China summit.

This hallway displays portraits and photographs of former U.S. presidents. The Trump Administration created it last year. Notably, instead of a photograph of the 46th president, former President Joe Biden, a picture of an "autopen" is displayed between the photo frames of Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th president.

The "autopen photo" is a satirical addition by President Trump, implying that during his term, Biden was suffering from declining cognitive abilities and that it was not Biden himself but his aides using an autopen to process executive orders and pardons. Trump intended it to convey the meaning that the 46th president was not Joe Biden, but the autopen. This installation highlights ongoing suspicions about Biden's cognitive decline and simultaneously serves to mock him. In March, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi burst out laughing after seeing the photo, which led to criticism from some quarters that her behavior was "inappropriate."

Chinese President Xi Jinping smiling while looking at the 'Biden Autopen' frame at the White House. Screenshot from the White House X (formerly Twitter).

In the video released by the White House, President Trump, looking at the photo with President Xi, said, "That's the autopen. That's Biden." At this remark, President Xi began laughing loudly, and the laughter of their accompanying aides was also heard. President Trump lightly tapped President Xi's arm in response to his reaction. The South China Morning Post (SCMP) noted that President Xi's response was "a striking departure from the usual restraint shown by Chinese leaders during state visits."

During Biden's presidency, strategic competition between the U.S. and China intensified under persistent U.S. pressure. There were heated exchanges over the origins of COVID-19, conflict over Taiwan Strait issues triggered by then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, and America's multi-layered, grid-like containment policy against China, including the Quad (the security framework composed of the U.S., Japan, Australia, and India), along with technology export restrictions on advanced semiconductors. Additionally, during his term, former President Biden referred to President Xi as a "dictator" and never visited China.

Summits between President Xi and former President Biden took place at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco, U.S., in 2023, and in Lima, Peru, in 2024. On one occasion, when referring to a Chinese reconnaissance balloon (which the Chinese side claimed was for scientific research) that drifted into U.S. territory and was eventually shot down by advanced fighter jets, Biden remarked, "That was a great embarrassment for a dictator."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.