Donald Trump's Weird Sharpie Story Comes Crashing Down After Embarrassing Update

At his March 26 Cabinet meeting, Donald Trump left everyone confused when he rambled about Sharpies and pens in a nonsensical rant. Unsurprisingly, Trump has already gotten plenty of flak online for going off on the perplexing tangent. Now, things are getting even weirder. Not only was it odd that Trump spent so much time telling a story about how he ended up getting personalized Sharpies for $5, but apparently, he may have made the whole story up. 

It was clear after said Cabinet meeting that Trump is a fan of Sharpie pens. He explained that the White House used to have pens that cost $1,000 apiece, though they were not particularly good pens. According to Trump, he would've preferred Sharpie pens, but didn't like the way they looked. So, he described a negotiation that went on between him and someone who worked with the popular brand, which resulted in them giving him personalized Sharpies for $5. "It's a business story," Trump explained. "So for $5, it could be zero, but for $5, I get a much better pen than for $1,000. And I can hand them out. And actually, they've become hot as a pistol so what can I tell you?" he added (via People). An odd story to tell at that moment? Sure, but we've grown somewhat accustomed to Trump getting sidetracked when he's speaking.  Yet, this whole Sharpie story gets weirder knowing that a spokesperson for the company isn't sure this ever actually happened.

The Washington Post presented a transcript of Donald Trump's meandering Sharpie story to a spokesperson for Newell Brands, the company behind Sharpies. They replied, saying, "We don't have any information about the conversation described." They simply added, "We're proud to be a beloved brand trusted by so many globally." When the outlet reached out to the White House about the story and the brand's response, they did not reply. It is worth noting, however, that Trump does seem to have black Sharpies with his signature in gold on them. Even so, it's hard to know now if the conversation he mentioned ever occurred. 

Netizens were already concerned about Trump's Sharpie talk so, of course, news that this story may have been a lie isn't easing cognitive decline concerns. "More evidence of trump's dementia. Why is the media ignoring the signs?" one X user asked. "Idiot is bragging about paying 5 dollars for a pen that sells for 60 cents after claiming that Sharpie offered to give them to him for free. ART OF THE DEAL," joked another. So whether Trump really negotiated a deal on personalized Sharpie pens or not, it's safe to say it probably would've been better to avoid devoting any Cabinet meeting time to this particular anecdote.