President Donald Trump accidentally revealed he was unfamiliar with his own executive orders after he got stumped during his speech.
The 80-year-old president delivered remarks at a dinner in the paved-over White House Rose Garden on Thursday, touting a pair of executive orders reversing Biden-era restrictions on federal lands as part of an effort to “reinvigorate” the U.S.’s “hunting heritage.”
He was barely five minutes into his speech when he appeared to be caught by surprise while reading from his prepared remarks in front of him.
“We believe that public lands belong to the American people and to the public, and hunters, fishers, and outdoorsmen should be able to access them, and they weren’t able to,” he said. “And this order also protects the use of affordable, traditional—”
He trailed off and looked up at Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
“Well, this is pretty good. Is that—I never knew this was a problem, Doug. You’re going to have to educate me. But you put it in—lead ammunition,” the president rambled, seemingly revealing that he did not know what his latest executive order entailed, and that Burgum had written at least part of his speech.
Trump continued to expose his cluelessness, quizzing Burgum about the executive order.
“Is ammunition—lead ammunition was a problem, huh? Is it better than other ammunition, I assume, huh?” he said, before admitting, “I don’t know what the hell that means.”
The Rose Garden crowd laughed along as the president learned about his own executive order on the fly.
“I know one thing: you wanted it,” he told the crowd, made up of dozens of outdoor industry executives, hunters, and anglers. “You wanted it, and I’m here for you.”
“So the order protects the use of affordable traditional lead ammunition. That sounds good to me,” he added.
The Biden administration had moved to limit the use of lead ammunition and tackle to protect wildlife and humans from being exposed to the toxic substance.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump’s speech was peppered with several other bizarre moments, including one in which he mused about the “power” of the presidency.
“I could have banned fishing,” the president told billionaire Bass Pro Shops CEO Johnny Morris. “I’ll tell you what, the power of this office is crazy. I could have banned fishing and driven Johnny right the hell out of business, OK?”
He continued, “I think I’m going to do that—just—maybe just a quick order just for a day or two until he calls me and he says, ‘Please, President, please. You’re putting me out of business, sir.’”
At another point, Trump veered into his oft-repeated story about how he once asked a boat owner whether he would rather be electrocuted by an electric boat or “go swimming with the sharks.”
“I’ll take the electrocution,” the president said.
