Trump spent five minutes at a Cabinet meeting bragging about his custom $5 Sharpie deal, but the company says the conversation never happened

President Donald Trump told a five-minute story at a Cabinet meeting about how he replaced the White House’s $1,000 pens with custom $5 Sharpies. But Sharpie’s manufacturer says it has no record of the conversation he described.

Trump, 79, said he was frustrated with the expensive pens typically used at the White House. He called them “beautiful pen, ballpoint, $1,000” and complained that they were often given away to “kids that don’t even know what they are.” He also said the pens had a practical problem: “They didn’t write well,” and sometimes had “no ink” when he tried to sign something.

According to The Washington Post, Trump said he then “called a guy,” whom he later identified as “the head of Sharpie,” and asked for custom pens with his signature and a drawing of the White House, but without the standard gray Sharpie packaging and logo.

Trump’s pen deal story makes for a good anecdote, but Sharpie’s parent company is not backing it up

According to Trump, the Sharpie executive was “shocked” to get the call. He quoted the man as saying, “You don’t have to pay me, sir. I’ll give them to you for nothing.” Trump said he insisted on paying, and they eventually settled on $5 per pen. 

He wrapped up the story by saying, “The bottom line is, they’re better pens. It’s a business story. So for $5, could be zero, but for $5 I get a much better pen than for $1,000 and I could hand them out and actually they become hot as a pistol.”

Trump spoke on the issue for roughly five minutes before yielding the floor to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and returning to the original conversation. However, Newell Brands, the company that makes Sharpie, told the Post a different story.

A spokesperson said, “We don’t have any information about the conversation described.” The Cabinet meeting came amid a busy week of foreign policy moves, including reports that the US delivered a secret peace plan to Iran.

The spokesperson also added that the company is “proud to be a beloved brand trusted by so many globally.” This statement directly contradicts the detailed account Trump gave at the Cabinet meeting. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has also been in the news this week over his shifting position on a potential Iran deal. The White House had not offered any clarification about the president’s story as of writing.