U.S. President Donald Trump shows a signed executive order regarding Quantum Computing, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 22, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
President Donald Trump's executive order signing ceremony on Monday left some observers wide-eyed.
Trump signed a pair of executive orders to boost America's quantum computing industry during a ceremony in the Oval Office. However, Trump stumbled over a section of one of the orders while reading it to the press, leaving some onlookers genuinely baffled.
"The second order I am signing directs federal agencies to make the transition to what is called 'quantum crypto-graphy,'" Trump said, seeming confused. "Does anybody know what that is? You're going to hear very soon."
The Oval Office may have fallen quiet after Trump made his comments, but political observers were active online reacting to clips of the ceremony.
Journalist Aaron Rupar posted on Bluesky that "[Trump] clearly has no clue" about the executive orders he was signing.
"President Good Brains calls it 'crypto-graffey' twice," Brandon Friedman, a former Obama administration staffer, posted on Bluesky.
"Perhaps another reason we should think of elections as selecting teams and political networks (albeit with notional leaders) into office," Sarang Shah, a fellow at Columbia University's Center for Law and the Economy, posted on Bluesky.
"Hang this up in the Unitary Executive Theory Hall of Fame," James Goodwin, policy director at the Center for Progressive Reform, posted on Bluesky.
Trump on an executive order he's about to sign that he clearly has no clue about: "Quantum ... cryptography. Does anybody know what that is?"
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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) June 22, 2026 at 1:58 PM