The notes were written in large marker letters. The cameras could see through the paper. And Trump still had trouble reading them.

During an executive order signing in the Oval Office on March 31, President Trump took questions from reporters about a federal judge's decision to halt construction on his $400 million White House ballroom. He pulled out a handwritten cheat sheet to help explain the ruling and his plans to work around it.

It didn't go smoothly.

"He also said, but this is positive for us, I'm allowed — meaning, we are allowed — to continue building as necessary to, let's see... What is that?" Trump said mid-sentence, apparently losing his place. "To cover the safety and security of the White House and its grounds."

Then came the glass moment.

"This has the highest level of, in fact, they call this graph... this, uh, grass, this, uh, the glass, uh... It's bulletproof, and it's ballistic proof."

The White House responded to questions about the stumbles with a statement calling Trump "the sharpest, most accessible, and energetic president in American history."

The Rest of the Presser

Trump also took a swipe at his own press secretary during the appearance — telling Karoline Leavitt she was doing "a terrible job" because he gets between 93 and 97 percent bad press. The White House clarified this was a joke. Trump followed it up by asking the room "shall we keep her?" before deciding yes.

He also told reporters he won the last election "in a landslide" — he received 49.8% of the popular vote — without providing a source for his bad press figures.

Afterward Trump took to Truth Social to continue pushing back on the ballroom ruling, arguing congressional approval has never been required for White House construction and pointing out the ballroom is being funded through private donations rather than taxpayer money.

The judge who halted construction said congressional approval was needed. Trump said the judge is wrong. That fight is ongoing.

Worth Keeping in Perspective

Stumbling over notes isn't exactly a presidential first. George W. Bush had plenty of memorable verbal slip-ups at podiums. Barack Obama famously lost his place during a 2009 toast at a state dinner and kept talking over the national anthem. Even Reagan — known as the Great Communicator — occasionally fumbled prepared remarks.

Reading from notes is hard, and doing it in front of cameras with reporters firing questions is harder. It happens.

What makes this moment slightly more notable is that Trump typically doesn't use notes at all. His whole brand has always been stream-of-consciousness, off-the-cuff, no teleprompter necessary. Seeing him work from a cheat sheet — and then struggle with it — is just a little out of character for someone who usually operates like the script is entirely in his head.

Then again, when you're the guy who once spent five straight minutes talking about Sharpie pens in a Cabinet meeting, maybe the notes aren't the problem. But at least nobody's ever accused Trump of being boring when he goes off script.

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