Donald Trump continues to distinguish himself from every other U.S. president, with clumsy theatrics that nearly derailed a White House press conference after he narrowly avoided injuring himself before a full room of reporters on Jan. 20. The elected official was on hand to brag about his admini stration victories on the first anniversary of his second presidential swearing-in ceremony. Trump shuffled through mugshots out of Minnesota for the first 15 minutes, touting the targeted immigration crackdown as a response to the country’s “open borders” issue. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) ‘Second Time Today’: Heads Will Roll After Trump Is Humiliated Again Weeks After His Escalator and Teleprompter Were ‘Sabotaged’ He then pivoted to his “book of accomplishments,” a thick packet of paper entitled “365 WINS IN 365 DAYS: President Trump’s Return Marks New Era of Success, Prosperity.” His political receipts were held together by a black binder clip. He lifted the silver levers and released the clamp, only for the clip to spring back at him, making an audible snapping sound at the podium. “Whoo, I’m glad my finger wasn’t in this sucker,” he said, holding up the binder clip for the room to see. “That could have done some damage, but you know what, I wouldn’t have shown the pain,” he claimed, still fidding with the mundane office supply. Reporters laughed off his tough guy act. The White House passed out a thick packet of “365 Wins in 365 Days.” pic.twitter.com/5tW1x2Ipkz— Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell (@TheElizMitchell) January 20, 2026 “That would have gotten back —  boy, did you hear that? That was nasty,” he continued, commenting on the loud snap of the object. Then he again he boasted, “I would not have shown the pain. I would have acted like nothing happened as my finger fell off. I think someone did that. It was him,” before singling out a guy in the room for setting him up. Then he shocks the room even further by simply tossing the book and the clip on the ground for someone else to pick up. The exchange ended playfully as the senior citizen joked that he knew the individual wasn’t guilty. However, his delusions of grandeur stole the spotlight, quickly becoming the most viral takeaway from the press briefing. The jokes about his mishandling of a paper clip were endless. “Trump almost injures himself with a binder clip and turns it into a war story,” an X user tweeted. An IG Threads user joked, “That Binder clip said ‘what accomplishments?’” The reality TV star-turned-politician’s tangent about the otherwise unimportant incident provoked a third person to nickname him “The Mad rambling Hatter.” Trump almost injures himself with a binder clip and turns it into a war story pic.twitter.com/7qV8eqn4Tc— gu̸c̸c̸i̸fe̸r (@____selah) January 20, 2026 In a longer clip of Trump holding his “book of accomplishments,” he flashes a few pages to the press before he says, “Here’s the book … each line is something that we did. Nobody did that before, and it’s big stuff too. We’ll be the hottest country in the world.” One person quickly chimed in and said, “That MF can’t be real.” “Him tossing the book on the floor is a metaphor for what he’s doing to America,” said one social media user, while another wrote, “This is absolutely insane but the tossing of it on the floor made me bust out laughing like WHAT homeboy the podium is right in front of you.” Due to the belief that he can’t handle a paper clip, critics blasted Trump and his book, calling him everything from “Delulu” to a “babbling fool.” “ITS A F—-G BINDER CLIP! And then he tosses ‘the hottest country in the world’s’ binder on the floor. THUD,” noted another. His binder clip mishap drew more attention to as one person pointed out White Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt sitting to his right side, subtly shaking her head as if in disbelief while he shifted blame onto the press.  One person pointed out her reaction to his rant, “Did you see Karoline? She doesn’t believe him either. “@karolineleavitthq keeps hiding her yawns and her eyelids are heavy. Even she can’t stand this nicompoop,” one person wrote. “Holy sh–. Seriously. COME THE FK ON.” View on Threads The ridiculous moment only lasted for a little over a minute, but it was long enough for a fifth individual to compare it to must-see Saturday night TV. “It’s like watching a SNL cold opening,” an X user wrote about the hijinks. In the end, the binder didn’t just fall apart — it followed a pattern Trump has been sticking to for years. When something goes wrong, accountability never makes it to the podium. This isn’t the first time he’s blamed someone else for his own mistake, accused a reporter of sabotage, or suggested unseen forces were working against him. Trump had spent most of 2025 complaining that a teleprompter failure at the United Nations was rigged against him, even accusing the U.N. of sabotage for the teleprompter crash and an escalator that abruptly stopped after he and his wife, Melania, stepped on it. But when the commander-in-chief gave a prime-time speech at the White House on Dec. 17, 2025, his struggles with the teleprompter had become even worse as he undercut his own argument. Viewers focused less on the equipment and more on Trump’s repeated stumbles while reading prepared remarks, including misreading basic figures. The moment reignited criticism that the issue wasn’t sabotage — it was his difficulty sticking to the script. ‘Did You Hear That?’: Trump Loses It, Claims a Binder Clip Nearly Took His Finger, Then Shocks the Crowd by Dumping Everything on the Floor ...read more read less