Presidents have used autopens for decades. Now Trump objects to Biden’s use of one

Damilic Corp. president Bob Olding anchors a sheet of paper as the Atlantic Plus, the Signascript tabletop model autopen, produces a signature at their Rockville, Md., office, June 13, 2011. (AP)
Damilic Corp. president Bob Olding anchors a sheet of paper as the Atlantic Plus, the Signascript tabletop model autopen, produces a signature at their Rockville, Md., office, June 13, 2011. (AP)
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Updated 18 March 2025
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Presidents have used autopens for decades. Now Trump objects to Biden’s use of one

Presidents have used autopens for decades. Now Trump objects to Biden’s use of one
  • An autopen is a mechanical device that is used to replicate a person’s authentic signature

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump claimed Monday that pardons recently issued by Joe Biden to lawmakers and staff on the congressional committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot have no force because, Trump says, the-then president signed them with an autopen instead of by his own hand.
“In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!” Trump wrote on his social media site. Trump didn’t offer any evidence to support his claims. Nor did the White House.
Trump asserted in his all-caps post that the pardons are void and have no effect in his estimation. But presidents have broad authority to pardon or commute the sentences of whomever they please, the Constitution doesn’t specify that pardons must be in writing and autopen signatures have been used before for substantive actions by presidents.




President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, in Washington. (AP)

A representative for Biden declined comment.
WHAT IS AN AUTOPEN?
An autopen is a mechanical device that is used to replicate a person’s authentic signature. A pen or other writing implement is held by an arm of the machine, which reproduces a signature after a writing sample has been fed to it. Presidents, including Trump, have used them for decades. Autopens aren’t the same as an old-fashioned ink pad and rubber stamp or the electronic signatures used on PDF documents.
WHY IS IT SUDDENLY AN ISSUE?
The Oversight Project at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank recently said its analysis of thousands of pages of documents bearing Biden’s signature found that most were by autopen, including pardons. Conservative media have amplified the claims, which have been picked up by Trump. He has commented for several days running about Biden’s autopen use.
Mike Howell, the project’s executive director, said in an interview that his team is scrutinizing Biden’s pardons because that power lies only with the president under the Constitution and can’t be delegated to another person or a machine. Howell said some of Biden’s pardon papers also specify they were signed in Washington on days when he was elsewhere.
WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?
There is no law governing a president’s use of an autopen.
A 2005 opinion from the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department said an autopen can be used to sign legislation. Barack Obama became the first president to do so in May 2011 when he signed an extension of the Patriot Act. Obama was in France on official business and, with time running out before the law expired, he authorized use of the autopen to sign it into law.




US President Joe Biden signs into law the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 9, 2022. (AFP)

Much earlier guidance on pardons was sent in 1929 from the solicitor general — the attorney who argues for the United States before the Supreme Court — to the attorney general. It says “neither the Constitution nor any statute prescribes the method by which executive clemency shall be exercised or evidenced.”
HAS TRUMP USED AN AUTOPEN?
Yes, but “only for very unimportant papers,” he said on Monday.
He told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday night that, “we may use it, as an example, to send some young person a letter because it’s nice. You know, we get thousands and thousands of letters, letters of support for young people, from people that aren’t feeling well, etcetera. But to sign pardons and all of the things that he signed with an autopen is disgraceful.”
WHY IS HE SINGLING OUT THE JAN. 6 PARDONS?
Trump remains angry at being prosecuted by the Justice Department over his actions in inspiring his supporters to go to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop lawmakers from certifying Biden’s defeat of him in the 2020 election, though the case was dismissed after he won reelection. At the end of his term, Biden issued “preemptive pardons” to lawmakers and committee staff to protect them from any possible retribution from Trump.
On whether pardons must be in writing or by the president’s own hand, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has said the ”plain language of the Constitution imposes no such limitation.” Biden’s statement accompanying those pardons make clear they were official acts, said Carl Tobias, professor at the University of Richmond law school.
Biden issued hundreds of commutations or pardons, including to members of his family, also because he feared possible prosecution by Trump and his allies.
Trump vigorously used such powers at the opening of his presidency, issuing one document — a proclamation — granting pardons and commutations to all 1,500-plus people charged in the insurrection at the Capitol.
HOW ELSE DO PRESIDENTS USE THE AUTOPEN?
Presidents also use an autopen to sign routine correspondence to constituents, like letters recognizing life milestones.
During the Gerald Ford administration, the president and first lady Betty Ford occasionally signed documents and other correspondence by hand but White House staff more often used autopen machines to reproduce their signatures on letters and photographs.

 


Vance calls for greater ties with India, hails progress on trade talks

Vance calls for greater ties with India, hails progress on trade talks
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Vance calls for greater ties with India, hails progress on trade talks

Vance calls for greater ties with India, hails progress on trade talks
“I believe there is much that India and America can accomplish together,” Vance said
The Trump administration “seeks trade partners on the basis of fairness and shared national interest

NEW DELHI: US Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday called for enhanced engagement with India and said that the South Asian country should buy more defense equipment and energy from the US and allow Washington greater access to its market, lending momentum to an expected bilateral trade deal.
Vance, who is on a four-day visit to India, said that he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi made progress on trade talks during their discussions on Monday, and confirmed that both sides had finalized the terms of reference for the trade negotiation — a vital step toward setting the road map for the final agreement.
India and the US hope to seal a bilateral trade agreement this year and have set an ambitious target of more than doubling their bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. If achieved, the trade deal could significantly enhance economic ties between both countries and potentially strengthen diplomatic ties as well.
“I believe there is much that India and America can accomplish together,” Vance said at an event in the western city of Jaipur, where he, his wife Usha Vance and their three children were on a sightseeing tour.
Vance’s first visit to New Delhi came amid the backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s partially-paused tariff program against most countries, including India. Earlier this month, Trump announced a 90-day pause in which imports from most countries would face a baseline 10 percent tax so that there was time to hold talks and possibly structure broader deals.
The trade negotiations are especially urgent for India and could help New Delhi avoid sharp US tariffs. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has portrayed its strategy of tariffs as forcing negotiations that could limit the reach and influence of China, the world’s dominant manufacturer and New Delhi’s main rival in the region.
At the event, Vance sought to assuage fears over Trump’s tariff decisions and said his administration was seeking to rebalance global trade so that the US, with friends like India, can build a better future. He said that trade relations must be based on fairness.
“I come here with a simple message,” Vance said. The Trump administration “seeks trade partners on the basis of fairness and shared national interest. We want to build relationships with our foreign partners who respect their workers.”
Vance said that he was in India to strengthen ties between both nations, and criticized previous governments for looking at New Delhi as a cheap source of labor.
“I believe that if India and the United States work together successfully, we are going to see a 21st century that is prosperous and peaceful,” he said, adding that if this didn’t happen, it would mean a “dark time for all humanity.”
Washington has long sought to develop a deeper partnership with New Delhi, which is seen as a bulwark against China. Modi has established a good working relationship with Trump, and the two leaders are likely to further boost cooperation between their countries.
Modi was also among the first leaders to visit the US and hold talks with Trump that kickstarted a negotiation process to minimize the possible fallout of Trump’s tariffs. The two leaders also said they planned to grow their defense partnership.
India is a close partner of the US and is part of the Quad, which is made up of the US, India, Japan and Australia, and is seen as a counterbalance to China’s expansion in the region. It is also a major defense partner of the US, a status only enjoyed by some of the closest allies of Washington.
In line with Trump’s push for supplying more military equipment to India, Vance said Washington was seeking greater collaboration with New Delhi for the sale of advanced military gear, as well as coproduction. He also pitched Washington’s fifth-generation stealth fighter to India.
“F-35 will help protect your people like never before,” he said.
Over the past several decades, India has been largely dependent on Russian weapons, fighters and military equipment, but has gradually started diversifying its purchase basket from countries such as the US, France and the UK
In recent years, India has embedded advanced American jets, helicopters, missiles and other equipment into its armed forces and the two countries have announced plans to sign a 10-year framework later this year to further strengthen the defense partnership.

Philippines, UAE sign agreement to combat cybercrime, drug trafficking

Philippine Interior Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla and UAE Interior Minister Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al-Nahyan shake hands.
Philippine Interior Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla and UAE Interior Minister Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al-Nahyan shake hands.
Updated 22 April 2025
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Philippines, UAE sign agreement to combat cybercrime, drug trafficking

Philippine Interior Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla and UAE Interior Minister Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al-Nahyan shake hands.
  • New deal provides ‘strategic framework’ for cooperation, Philippine ambassador says
  • UAE is the only country in the Middle East where Philippines has defense attache

MANILA: The Philippines has signed a new security agreement with the UAE to tackle transnational and organized crime, officials said on Tuesday.

Signed by Philippine Interior Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla and UAE Interior Minister Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the new deal focuses on cybercrime, drug trafficking and human trafficking. 

“Transnational crimes with global networks powered by new technologies and the ease of cross-border movement of persons and criminal syndicates need more international cooperation and partnerships,” Alfonso Ver, Philippine ambassador to the UAE, told Arab News on Tuesday. 

“This is one concrete step to address the growing menace above … We have gone into new and heretofore unexplored areas of bilateral cooperation, moving beyond the issues of OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers), migration and oil.” 

The Philippines and the UAE celebrated 50 years of diplomatic relations last year. 

The two countries have been working to expand security ties over the past few years, with discussions ongoing for a wide-ranging bilateral defense pact. 

In 2021, the Philippines posted a defense attache in the UAE, making it the only country in the Middle East where Manila has such representation. 

The two countries also signed several treaties on extradition, mutual legal assistance and transfer of prisoners in February. 

Ver said the new agreement was a “milestone” that provides a “strategic framework” that will help guide Philippine-UAE “future engagements in a more structured, sustainable, and effective” manner.

It is also expected to promote the exchange of best practices and expertise. 

“We discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations between the two friendly countries and develop cooperation in the security and police fields,” Sheikh Saif said in a post on X, referring to his meeting with Remulla. 

“This underscores our shared commitment to supporting effective international institutional cooperation to enhance the security and stability of societies.”

Cybercrime and trafficking have been growing concerns for countries like the Philippines.

More than 200 Filipinos were among several thousand people freed in late February and March from online scam centers run by syndicates operating along Myanmar’s border with Thailand, where many of them are believed to have been recruited and trafficked by criminal gangs.

Lured by well-paid job offers in Thailand, they were released in a weeks-long, highly publicized crackdown by Thai, Myanmar and Chinese forces.


Bangladesh’s largest private airline starts Riyadh flights as demand grows

Bangladesh’s largest private airline starts Riyadh flights as demand grows
Updated 22 April 2025
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Bangladesh’s largest private airline starts Riyadh flights as demand grows

Bangladesh’s largest private airline starts Riyadh flights as demand grows
  • US-Bangla Airlines offers 5 weekly flights on Dhaka–Riyadh route
  • First private Bangladeshi carrier to operate flights to the Kingdom

DHAKA: US-Bangla Airlines, the largest airline in Bangladesh by fleet size, has launched direct flights from Dhaka to Riyadh amid increasing demand for travel to Saudi Arabia.

The inaugural flight from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to King Khalid International Airport took off on Monday, with 423 passengers on board.

The flights will run five times a week on an Airbus 330 aircraft, with plans to gradually expand to daily service.

“Today, also, we are flying with full occupancy. There is always demand for destinations in the Middle East,” Kamrul Islam, the carrier’s general manager for public relations, told Arab News on Tuesday.

“We are receiving very good responses from the passengers ... The route will soon be served by daily flights.”

The airline is tapping into the growing market for Middle East travel. Flights to Saudi Arabia have been too few to accommodate the needs of some 3 million Bangladeshi workers in the Kingdom and hundreds of thousands of people traveling for the annual Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages.

In August last year, it launched daily flights to Jeddah, becoming the first — and so far the only — private Bangladeshi airline to fly to the Kingdom.

“Our aim is to start flight operations gradually in all the destinations where Bangladeshi migrants live,” Islam said.

“In the near future, we are planning to begin flight operations to Dammam and Madinah. Our plan is to begin these flights by the next year. It takes six to seven months of preparations to launch a new station.”

Founded in 2010, US-Bangla Airlines started as a domestic carrier and has lately expanded its routes to go international. The Riyadh route marks the airline’s 14th international destination and sixth in the Middle East.

“Every destination in the Middle East is a base for Bangladeshi migrants,” Islam said.

“We are currently operating also to other places in the region, like Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, and Doha.”

With its latest acquisition of new Airbus A330 and Boeing 737 aircraft last year, the carrier has become the largest airline in Bangladesh by fleet size.

With the additions, the US-Bangla fleet now consists of 24 aircraft, while the national flag carrier Biman has 21.


UN food agency to halt aid for 650,000 women, children in Ethiopia

UN food agency to halt aid for 650,000 women, children in Ethiopia
Updated 22 April 2025
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UN food agency to halt aid for 650,000 women, children in Ethiopia

UN food agency to halt aid for 650,000 women, children in Ethiopia

ADDIS ABABA: The World Food Programme said Tuesday that it was suspending aid for 650,000 malnourished women and children in Ethiopia due to a lack of funding.
“WFP is being forced to halt treatment for 650,000 malnourished women and children in May due to insufficient funding. WFP had planned to reach two million mothers and children with life-saving nutrition assistance in 2025,” the UN agency said in a statement.


Cardinals set Pope Francis’ funeral for Saturday morning, with public viewing starting Wednesday

Cardinals set Pope Francis’ funeral for Saturday morning, with public viewing starting Wednesday
Updated 22 April 2025
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Cardinals set Pope Francis’ funeral for Saturday morning, with public viewing starting Wednesday

Cardinals set Pope Francis’ funeral for Saturday morning, with public viewing starting Wednesday
  • First so-called ‘general congregation’ signals the start of a centuries-old tradition that culminates in the election by cardinals of a new pontiff within three weeks

VATICAN CITY: Cardinals have taken their first decisions following the death of Pope Francis, setting Saturday as the date for his funeral and allowing ordinary faithful to begin paying their final respects starting Wednesday, when his casket is brought into St. Peter’s Basilica.

The cardinals met for the first time Tuesday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world grieving history’s first Latin American pope.

The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10 a.m. in St. Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.

US President Donald Trump has announced he and first lady Melania Trump plan to attend Saturday’s funeral Argentine President Javier Milei is also expected.

Francis died Monday at age 88 after suffering a stroke that put him in a coma and led his heart to fail. He had been recovering in his apartment after being hospitalized for five weeks with pneumonia. He made his last public appearance Sunday, delivering an Easter blessing and making what would be his final greeting to followers from his popemobile, looping around St. Peter’s Square.

In retrospect, his Easter appearance from the same loggia where he was introduced to the world as the first pope from the Americas on March 13, 2013, was a perfect bookend to a 12-year papacy that sought to shake up the church and return it to its Gospel-mandated mission of caring for the poorest.

“He gave himself to the end,” said Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the head of the Italian bishops’ conference and considered a possible contender to be next pope. “To go out to meet everyone, speak to everyone, teach us to speak to everyone, to bless everyone.”

The first images of Francis’ body were released Tuesday, showing him in the wooden casket, in red vestments and his bishop’s miter, with the Vatican secretary of state praying over him in the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta hotel where he lived and died.

In his final will, Francis confirmed he would be buried at St. Mary Major basilica, which is outside the Vatican and home to his favorite icon of the Virgin Mary. Before and after every foreign trip, Francis would go to the basilica to pray before the Byzantine-style painting that features an image of Mary, draped in a blue robe, holding the infant Jesus, who in turn holds a jeweled golden book.

Francis stopped by the basilica on his way home from the Gemelli hospital on March 23, after his 38-day hospital stay, to deliver flowers to be placed before the icon. He returned April 12 to pray before the Madonna for the last time.

The world reacts

Bells tolled in chapels, churches and cathedrals around the world and flags flew at half staff in Italy, India, Taiwan and the US after Francis’ death was announced by the Vatican camerlengo. Soccer matches in Italy and Argentina were suspended in honor of the Argentine pope who was a lifelong fan of the San Lorenzo soccer club.

World leaders praised Francis for his moral leadership and compassion, while ordinary faithful remembered his simplicity and humanity.

“Like every Argentine, I think he was a rebel,” said 23-year-old Catalina Favaro, who had come to pay her respects in the Buenos Aires church where Francis discovered his priestly vocation. “He may have been contradictory, but that was nice, too.”

In East Timor, where Francis’ final outdoor Mass drew nearly half of the population last September, President Jose Ramos-Horta praised Francis’ courage. “Papa Francisco was a brave man who was not afraid to speak out against the rulers of the world who seek war, but do not want to seek peace,” Ramos-Horta said.

“He challenged the powerful to act with justice, called nations to welcome the stranger, and reminded us that our common home – this Earth – is a gift we must protect for future generations,” said Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, who is Muslim. Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country and has around 30 million Catholics, representing about 14 percent of the total population.

Viewing the pope’s coffin

The pope’s formal apartments in the Apostolic Palace and in the Santa Marta hotel were sealed Monday evening, following a centuries-old ritual. Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who as camerlengo had the task of announcing the death and confirming it once the cause was determined, presided over the rituals.

Francis chose not to live in the palace, though, but in a two-room suite in Santa Marta on the other side of Vatican City. He died there and his body was transferred to the hotel chapel in the lobby, where the private viewing was being held Tuesday for Vatican officials and members of the pontifical household.

In changes made by Francis last year, his body was not placed in three wooden coffins, as it had been for previous popes. Rather, Francis was placed in a simplified wooden coffin with a zinc coffin inside.

Once in St. Peter’s, his coffin will not be put on an elevated bier but will just be placed simply facing the pews, with the Paschal candle nearby.

“He was a pope who didn’t change his path when it came to getting dirty,” Francis’ vicar for Rome, Cardinal Baldassarre Reina, said in a Mass in his honor. “For him, poor people and migrants were the sacrament of Jesus.”

Choosing the next pope

After the funeral, there are nine days of official mourning, known as the “novendiali.” During this period, cardinals arrive in Rome and meet privately before the conclave.

To give everyone time to assemble, the conclave must begin 15-20 days after the “sede vacante” – the “vacant See” – is declared, although it can start sooner if the cardinals agree.

Once the conclave begins, cardinals vote in secret sessions in the Sistine Chapel. After voting sessions, the ballots are burned in a special stove. Black smoke indicates that no pope has been elected, while white smoke indicates that the cardinals have chosen the next head of the Catholic Church.

The one who has secured two-thirds of the votes wins. If he accepts, his election is announced by a cardinal from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica who tells the world “Habemus Papam,” Latin for “We have a pope.”