US President Donald Trump claimed to know exactly how much his signatures would fetch if sold online — or so he told kids at an Easter event at the White House on Monday.
“I could sign autographs for you guys, and then tonight, you could sell them for $25,000 on eBay,” he said to the children in attendance.
He also lampooned his predecessor, Joe Biden, over his age while talking to the kids.
“Biden would use the autopen… he was incapable of signing his name, so they’d follow him around with this big machine,” he said, as per a video posted on an official X account of the White House.
Trump is 79 years old; Biden was 82 when he dropped out of the last presidential election due to ill health. Biden reportedly used the autopen, a device used to automatically replicate a person’s signature, allowing him to sign numerous documents quickly.
For perspective, according to the PFC40, an index of Top 40 sought-after autographs traded on the open market, the most valuable signature is that of the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, which could fetch £50,000 as of 2022. The index is compiled by Paul Fraser Collectibles (UK) since 2000.
“Factors contributing to the high price include Jobs’s dislike of signing his autograph, his death at a young age and the legendary status of his company,” according to the Guinness World Records site.
At Easter event, what he said on Iran
Trump also spoke to reporters on the sidelines of the Easter Egg Roll event at the White House.
He said a proposal for a ceasefire in the Iran war was a “very significant step”, but not enough yet to end the conflict.
Trump’s comments came after the White House confirmed that there was a deal under consideration for a reported 45-day truce.
“It’s a significant proposal, it’s a significant step. It’s not good enough, but it’s a very significant step,” Trump said, “They are negotiating now… We’ll see what happens.”
Iranian state media reported that Tehran has rejected a truce to end the war that they labeled as an “American proposal.”
At a news conference later, Trump renewed the threats, while giving details on how the downed F-15 crew was rescued from inside Iran over the weekend.
Several countries are trying to find a diplomatic solution to end 38 days of war sparked by Israeli and US attacks against Iran, which has responded by firing missiles and drones at targets across the Middle East.
Trump has threatened mass strikes on Iran’s power plants and bridges if it doesn’t open the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday evening Washington time, a deadline he confirmed as final on Monday.
Under the gaze of First Lady Melania Trump and a mascot dressed as a giant Easter bunny, Trump doubled down at the White House event on his threats.
“If they don’t, they’ll have no bridges, no power plants, no anything. I won’t go further because there are other things that are worse than those two,” Trump told reporters.
Trump, in an expletive-laden social media post early Sunday, threatened strikes beginning Tuesday against Iran’s civilian infrastructure, before delaying the deadline by one day.
