Sharpie Rebuts Trump’s Account of Phone Call With Company: ‘We Don’t Have Any Information About the Conversation’

Alex Brandon/AP

According to a Friday Washington Post report, Sharpie parent company Newell Brands denied President Donald Trump’s retelling of a phone call with the brand, saying in a statement, “We don’t have any information about the conversation described.”

The response comes after Trump used part of Thursday’s Cabinet meeting to tell a long story about allegedly haggling over the price and appearance of the customized markers he uses to sign official documents.

While riffing on design, spending, and the look of official government materials, Trump held up a customized black pen and launched into a winding anecdote about why he wanted a more polished version of the marker.

“This pen is an interesting example,” Trump said. “This pen is very inexpensive, but it writes well. I like it.”

Trump then claimed he personally called the company to complain that the standard Sharpie branding was too ordinary for high-profile presidential signings.

“I called the guy, I said, ‘I’d like to use your pen, but I can’t have a great thing with a big S on it saying Sharpie as I’m signing a $1 trillion airplane contract to buy brand new fighter jets,’” he said.

According to Trump, the company head offered to upgrade the pens by painting them black, adding a gold White House emblem, and even printing Trump’s signature on them. Trump also said the executive initially offered the pens for free before he insisted on paying.

“I said, ‘How about five bucks a pen?’” Trump recalled. “He said, ‘That’s all right.’”

Yet when WaPo’s Isaac Arnsdorf presented Newell Brands with a transcript of Trump’s comments, the company rejected the story.

“We don’t have any information about the conversation described,” a spokesperson said. “We’re proud to be a beloved brand trusted by so many globally.”

The White House, according to the Post, did not answer questions about who Trump allegedly spoke with, when the call happened, or how the customized pens were actually obtained.

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