When did Donald trump declare Biden’s executive orders invalid?
Executive summary
On November 28, 2025, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that “any document signed by Sleepy Joe Biden with the Autopen…is hereby terminated,” declaring he was cancelling executive orders and other actions Biden signed with an autopen and claiming roughly “92%” of Biden’s orders were signed that way [1] [2]. Multiple U.S. and international outlets reported the declaration and noted it rests on contested legal and factual grounds and on allegations of improper autopen use that available reporting says lack concrete evidence [3] [4] [5].
1. Trump’s announcement: what he said and when
Trump publicly declared the invalidation on November 28, 2025, with a Truth Social post saying any document Biden signed by autopen “is hereby terminated” and that he was “cancelling all Executive Orders, and anything else that was not directly signed by Crooked Joe Biden” [1] [6]. He repeated the claim across remarks and social posts, sometimes citing a figure he said meant “approximately 92%” of Biden’s orders were autopen‑signed [2] [5].
2. How major outlets reported the move
News organizations from CBS and NBC to The Guardian, CNN and Al Jazeera covered the message as a high‑profile, unilateral declaration by the sitting president; their reporting emphasizes that Trump framed the action as both a policy statement and a criminal threat — saying Biden could face perjury charges if he claimed involvement in autopen signings [1] [3] [7] [5]. Coverage notes the announcement provoked immediate questions about how the cancellations would be implemented in practice [4] [3].
3. The autopen claim and the contest over its legality
Trump’s argument depends on the assertion that autopen use without explicit presidential authorization renders orders invalid. Reporters and analysts cited in the sources call that legal premise “baseless” or “legally dubious,” noting presidents have historically used autopens and that congressional probes cited by Republicans produced no direct evidence of staff forging Biden’s intent [4] [7]. The Guardian and Al Jazeera explicitly label the autopen accusations as without concrete supporting proof [4] [5].
4. Scale and stakes: what would be affected
Outlets report that Biden issued 162 executive orders during his presidency, per the American Presidency Project, and Trump’s post implies a sweeping rollback of orders he claims were autopen‑signed [1]. Journalists warn that rescinding or attempting to void large numbers of prior executive actions would create legal and administrative chaos and is unprecedented in scale [8] [3].
5. Evidence and investigatory record: what the sources say is missing
Reporting notes that House Republican inquiries and other probes raised questions about autopen usage but did not present direct evidence that aides acted without Biden’s knowledge to enact policies [6] [7]. Multiple sources explicitly state there is no concrete evidence provided that the autopen was used to circumvent the president’s consent [4] [6].
6. Alternative perspectives and partisan framing
Supporters framed Trump’s declaration as restoring accountability and addressing concerns about Biden’s fitness, while critics and several outlets characterized it as partisan grandstanding or a rhetorical escalation aimed at delegitimizing his predecessor [9] [7]. Conservative legal scholars quoted by one outlet suggested Trump might be “having fun” at Biden’s expense, underscoring differing legal interpretations [7].
7. Immediate practical and legal questions
News reports uniformly emphasize unanswered questions: how would the White House identify which orders were autopen‑signed, what statutory or constitutional authority Trump cites to nullify predecessor actions en masse, and whether courts would intervene? Journalists point to the lack of a clear process and the high likelihood of litigation [3] [4].
8. What reporting does not claim
Available sources do not mention a court having upheld Trump’s invalidation, nor do they cite definitive proof that autopen signatures were used to enact policies without Biden’s knowledge; sources instead report allegations, official statements, and the partisan context [6] [7]. They also do not document a completed legal mechanism by which the cancellations were executed at the time of reporting [1] [3].
Bottom line: Trump declared on Nov. 28, 2025, that executive orders and other documents Biden signed via autopen were “terminated” and “of no further force,” a sweeping public proclamation widely reported by major outlets; the legal premise is contested and reporting to date finds no concrete evidence proving improper autopen use or a clear, lawful pathway for mass nullification [1] [4] [3].