President Donald Trump signed his first official documents as the 45th president of the United States after being sworn in on Friday, January 20, and people across the globe watching the ceremony take place also noticed something interesting: his unique signature.
Us Weekly spoke with Kathi McKnight, a master certified handwriting analyst, about what the 70-year-old real estate mogul’s signature might indicate about his personality. “Handwriting analysis is an ancient science that has truly stood the test of time, having been around since the days of Aristotle,” she told Us. “Expert handwriting analysts look at many individual aspects of handwriting” including “size, pressure, spacing; where the t’s are crossed and the i’s dotted; lower loops, upper loops, individual letters, how those letters connect to each other and far more than can be written here.”
In looking at Trump’s signature, McKnight noted that “graphologists have long taken interest in Trump’s signature because it is so unique.” According to her, “the razor sharp writing, full of points and wedges, reveals someone whose mind is extremely analytical.”
Furthermore, McKnight said that the lack of space between his first and last name indicates that “what ‘Trump’ represents is equally important to him as his personal self.”
So how does Trump’s signature compare to presidents before him? McKnight told Us that former president Obama’s signature similarly has no space between his first and last name, which she says signals an emphasis on family. “His family (last) name is as important to him as his individual, personal self (first name),” she said. “They are one unit. This signature has threaded writing-meaning the writing is written so fast it resembles a loose piece of thread that has come unravelled. This reveals one who can see the end result of a problem or issue so fast that his mind works lightening fast to get there. His brain is working faster than the pen can keep up.”
Signatures of last four Presidents: Trump, Obama, George W. Bush & Clinton pic.twitter.com/rku4PPda6K
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) January 20, 2017
Two additional presidents’ signatures also underwent analysis: George W. Bush‘s and Bill Clinton‘s. Of Bush, McKnight said, “The signature is illegible, so you will not know the real him unless he invites you in to do so. The long lower loop in the letter ‘g’ in George reveals tremendous drive and ambition. The ending stroke to his last name trails off at nearly a 45 degree angle, which reveals the philosophy of one who believes there are no problems, just solutions. The way many letters are missing reveals great secretiveness.”
Clinton’s signature, on the other hand, “is pretty easy to read,” said McKnight. “The ‘i’ dots are planted where they should be, above the ‘i’ revealing a level of attention to detail; not flung off to the far left or right. In his first name, the first letter, B, is quite large revealing a healthy ego, which frankly is needed to stand out in the world of politics,” she said. “The rest of the letters are all in the same middle zone divulging he is living day to day.”
