Overview
- At a televised Cabinet meeting Thursday, the president held up a black‑and‑gold Sharpie and spent about five minutes explaining how the marker became his preferred pen at the White House.
- He framed the story as a lesson on waste, saying $1,000 ceremonial pens sometimes failed and tying it to his claim that Federal Reserve headquarters renovations are overpriced.
- He said he arranged custom Sharpies for about $5 each, describing a call with the company about a black design with gold White House branding and his signature.
- Sharpie’s parent, Newell Brands, later said it had no information about the conversation he recounted, a public gap that left the anecdote in dispute.
- The detour cut into updates on the war with Iran, airport security delays, oil prices, and market volatility, drawing backlash from commentators who called the focus embarrassing or infuriating.