President Donald Trump spent five minutes of Thursday’s Cabinet meeting boasting of his thrift with a story about negotiating for $5 personalized Sharpies. The company that makes the permanent markers said the exchange never happened.
Trump was busy touting his plans to make over the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and criticizing the renovation of the Federal Reserve headquarters when he went off on a tangent about the pen he was holding.
“This pen is an interesting example,” he said of the black permanent marker between his fingers. “This pen is very inexpensive, but it writes well, I like it.”
Trump, whose preference for Sharpies is as well known as his tendency to embellish, exaggerate and fabulize, said he asked the marker maker for a solution to make the pens look more official.
“I called the guy, I said, ‘I’d like to use your pen, but I can’t have a great thing with a big S on it saying Sharpie as I’m signing a $1 trillion airplane contract to buy brand new fighter jets,’” Trump said.
“He says, ‘Well, I can make it nicer.’”
“I said, ‘What can you do?’”
“He said, ‘I’ll paint it black.’”
“I said, ‘That’s nice.’”
“‘And I can even paint the White House on it, sir, if you like, in gold.’ Almost real gold. Not bad. ‘And I can even do your signature, sir.’”
Trump went on: “So the guy said to me, ‘You don’t have to pay me, sir. I’ll give them to you for nothing.’”
“I said, ‘No, I don’t want that. Let me pay you. I want to pay you.’”
“‘No, sir. You don’t have to. You’re the president of the United States.’ He was shocked. The head of Sharpie. He gets a call. I don’t even know who the hell he is.”
“He said, ‘He’s really the president?’ He said, ‘No, you don’t have to pay me, sir. This is such an honor.’”
“I said, ‘No, I want to pay you.’”
“And he said, ‘What would you like to pay?’”
“I said, ‘How about five bucks a pen?’”
“He said, ‘That’s all right.’”
Presented with a transcript of Trump’s account, a spokesperson for Sharpie maker Newell Brands said it did not occur.
“We don’t have any information about the conversation described,” the spokesperson said. “We’re proud to be a beloved brand trusted by so many globally.”
The White House did not respond to requests to clarify Trump’s account, including whom he spoke with and when, and how he did obtain black Sharpies with his signature in gold.
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