On Monday afternoon, Donald Trump talked about his agenda on trade tariffs, though the president acknowledged that his new, Aug. 1 deadline for international trading partners was “not 100% firm.” The following morning, the president sent the opposite signal, declaring online there would be “no extensions” to his firm Aug. 1 deadline.
The curious contradiction was made worse hours later during a White House Cabinet meeting. Asked about the tariff deadline — which has now changed more than once — Trump insisted there’s been no change. “It’s always been August 1,” he said.
Literally the day before the Cabinet meeting, Trump signed an executive order (or at least someone at the White House used the autopen to sign) that explicitly moved the deadline from July 9 to Aug. 1. If the president didn’t read his own executive order, it’s still online, posted to the White House’s official website.
How is it possible that an incumbent American president doesn’t know on Tuesday what he did Monday?
At the same White House event, a reporter noted the Trump administration last week paused a shipment of military aid intended for Ukraine. Asked who approved this, the president replied, “I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?”
COLLINS: Did you approve of the pause of weapons shipments to Ukraine?TRUMP: We want to put defensive weapons because Putin is not treating human beings rightCOLLINS: So who ordered the pause?TRUMP: I don't know. Why don't you tell me?
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-07-08T16:53:02.916Z
The answer made it sound as if the president were clueless about a life-or-death issue related to an ongoing war in Europe — which is a dynamic that comes up far more often than it should.
In late May, for example, during a Q&A with a White House press pool, Trump was asked about his administration’s new student visa policy, and he responded in a way that suggested he had no idea what the reporter was talking about.
Weeks earlier, less than 24 hours after he nominated Dr. Casey Means to serve as the nation’s next surgeon general, the president conceded that he didn’t know Casey Means.
The day before that, amid reports that the administration was planning to expand its deportations agenda to Libya, Trump was pressed on the policy. “I don’t know,” he responded. “You’ll have to ask the Department of Homeland Security.”
The same week, NBC News aired Trump’s latest appearance on “Meet the Press,” and when host Kristen Welker asked whether everyone in the United States is entitled to due process, the president replied, “I don’t know. I’m not, I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know.” When Welker reminded her guest about the Fifth Amendment, Trump again said, “I don’t know.”
As part of the same exchange, Welker went on to say, “[D]on’t you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president?” Once again, Trump answered, “I don’t know.”
As the interview continued, the host asked whether anyone in his administration is in contact with El Salvador about returning Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the U.S. “I don’t know,” the president said. “You’d have to ask the attorney general that question.”
Around the same time, during a White House meeting with members of the World Cup task force, a reporter asked Trump about Russia having been banned from competing in next year’s FIFA World Cup tournament. “I didn’t know that. Is that right?” Trump responded.
A day later, fielding questions in the Oval Office, Trump was asked whether he agreed with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s comments about possible tariff exemptions for certain family consumer goods. “I don’t know, I’ll think about it,” the president said. “I don’t know. I really don’t.”
Around the same time, a reporter reminded Trump that Vice President JD Vance said Russia was asking for too much to end the war in Ukraine. “When did he say that?” the president asked. Reminded that the vice president had made the comments hours earlier, Trump added, “Well, it’s possible that’s right. He may know some things.”
In case that weren’t quite enough, at the same Q&A, Trump also said he had no idea that Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina had announced his opposition to Ed Martin’s U.S. attorney nomination a day earlier.
In April, Time magazine asked Trump how much the U.S. government is paying El Salvador to imprison immigrants. “I don’t know,” the president responded. Asked if he approved the payments, the Republican added, “No, I didn’t.”
A month earlier, Trump was asked about four U.S. soldiers who’d gone missing during a NATO training exercise in Lithuania, and the president was clueless. Asked about the apparent assassination of a Russian general, Trump again had no idea what the reporter was talking about.
When the Republican was asked about the Signal group chat scandal and whether he believed classified information was shared, he replied, “I don’t know. I’m not sure, you have to ask the various people involved.”
These aren’t trick questions. No one appeared to be trying to trip the president up with unexpected inquiries about obscure topics. In all of these instances, Trump should’ve been able to respond to the questions with substantive responses.
But he didn’t. Instead, the Republican effectively said, over and over again, “Don’t look at me, I just work here.”
Around this time five years ago, as the severity of the pandemic came into focus, The New York Times published a memorable analysis that included a word to describe Trump that stood out to me as significant — “bystander.”
“While he presents himself as the nation’s commanding figure, Mr. Trump has essentially become a bystander as school superintendents, sports commissioners, college presidents, governors and business owners across the country take it upon themselves to shut down much of American life without clear guidance from the president,” the Times wrote.
A half-decade later, it appears President Bystander has returned. Trump has taken a keen interest in countless trivialities, but on substantive issues, he’s offering the public a lot of shrugged shoulders and blank stares.
As for why this matters, there are a handful of angles to keep in mind. Right off the bat, in a great many instances in recent months Trump has sounded a bit too much like a man who just wandered into the Oval Office.
What’s more, most objective observers would probably agree that if Joe Biden had repeatedly said, “I don’t know” in response to simple questions about his own administration, it would be front-page news — and the Democrat’s responses would be played on a loop, for hours on end, in conservative media.
Similarly, Trump has personally invested considerable time and energy in accusing Biden of having been a doddering old “autopen” president who was unaware of events unfolding around him. Given the frequency with which the Republican clings to “I don’t know” responses, he should probably consider a new line of attack.
Indeed, let’s not overlook that Trump has repeatedly seemed unaware of executive orders that have been handed to him to sign.
Finally, let’s also not forget that Trump’s authoritarian tendencies are rooted, at least in part, in the idea that governmental power must be concentrated in the president’s hands, to be executed as he sees fit.
It makes Trump’s apparent cluelessness that much more alarming.
This post updates our related earlier coverage.
