CNN reports:
President Donald Trump on Friday downplayed his involvement in invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport Venezuelan migrants, saying for the first time that he hadn’t signed the proclamation, even as he stood by his administration’s move.
“I don’t know when it was signed, because I didn’t sign it,” Trump told reporters before leaving the White House on Friday evening. The president made his comments when asked to respond to Judge James Boasberg’s concerns in court on Friday that the proclamation was “signed in the dark” of night and that migrants were hurried onto planes.
Hours after the president made his comments on Friday, the White House claimed that Trump was not talking about whether he signed the document last week. “President Trump was obviously referring to the original Alien Enemies Act that was signed back in 1798,” a White House statement said.
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So Trump is now saying he didn’t sign the Alien Enemies Act after originally saying he signed the Alien Enemies Act 🤔
— MeidasTouch (@meidastouch.com) March 21, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Whoa. Trump says he didn’t sign order re the Alien Enemies Act. But it has his signature. White House quickly scrambles to say “of course “ Trump was referring to —get this—1798 act. Something clearly funky.
Maybe they use an auto pen!😉www.cnn.com/2025/03/21/p…
— Harry Litman (@harrylitman.bsky.social) March 22, 2025 at 4:11 AM
After accusing Joe Biden of not knowing what he was signing, Donald Trump now claims he didn’t sign the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act that bears his signature:
— Lindsay Beyerstein (@beyerstein.bsky.social) March 21, 2025 at 8:03 PM
After President Trump said he didn’t personally sign the Alien Enemies Act — at the center of a major court battle right now — the White House said tonight: “President Trump was obviously referring to the original Alien Enemies Act that was signed back in 1798. The recent… pic.twitter.com/31r2P8mH8y
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) March 22, 2025