Is it common for the President to hold up and display his signature on an Executive Order after signing? I don’t remember seeing it as much in prior administrations. I thought they’d just sign it, pass out a few pens, shake a few hands, and close the folder.
Is Trump that fascinated with his own signature or is this a pretty routine thing to do?
He’s like a kindergartner displaying his finger-painting to mommy.
BM, is that you? 
I don’t know about this specific aspect of it, but it’s long been common to make a big spectacle of this sort of thing.
Moderator Note
Let’s stick to the facts in GQ, please. No political pot-shots.
Also, typo in thread title fixed.
Sorry, didn’t notice the forum.
Here’s a video ofLyndon Johnson signing the Medicare Act in 1965, joined by Harry Truman, Congressional leaders and a bunch of other people.
Here’sRichard Nixon signing the law establishing OSHA in 1970.
Obama signing an act commemorating Ronald Reagan.
And here’sGeorge W. Bush signingthe Patriot Act. If you look carefully, you’ll see Bush only used one pen to sign, and then passed out a lot of ceremonial pens that weren’t even used.
Here’s a clip of Richard Nixon signing a treaty with the Soviets. Sure, an international treaty gets a higher level of pomp and circumstance. But trust me, Nixon knew how to put on a show.
None of the videos showed any of them showing the signatures, almost as if to prove they were signed. I understand the multiple pens thing, it appears that Trump uses one and passes out many as well. I’ll take that as an indication that Trump is alone in displaying his signature in the way that he does?
These are are acts of Congress (sans treaty) being signed into law by the respective presidents. In comparison, an Executive Order is merely a directive to employees of the Executive branch to do or not do something.
