Trump Swears “Not My Signature.” The Evidence Says… Look at the Tail.
By Ben Cable (Originally Posted Sep 10th on Substack)
First, I want to share some good news, at least for me. You may or may not know I am an actor and started this part of my life on Hollywood backlots eons ago. I produced and acted in a series of short films a couple of years ago that have received international recognition. Two of these films were elevated with two more awards from Hollywood Gold. Both films were directed by Mathew Winters.
Gold Award – Super Short Film, REVELATIONS
Silver Award – Super Short Film, DON’T BE AFRAID
You will notice I have lost considerable weight in the last two years. Now onto our headline story of Donald Trump’s tall tale.
Donald Trump’s first on-camera spin about Jeffrey Epstein’s filthy birthday book was simple: “It’s not my signature. And it’s not the way I speak… It’s nonsense.” he told reporters outside Joe’s Seafood in D.C. on Sept. 9. Then the MAGA surrogate chorus rushed in with the hand-writing alibi: the scrawl under the nude sketch can’t be his because the shape is off, especially the tail (the descender stroke) on “Donald.”
One problem: Trump’s first-name signature often has a long, swooping tail on the final “d.” Side-by-side comparisons show the birthday-book “Donald” is strikingly similar to known examples of Trump signing with just his first name, spiky D up front, elongated tail trailing off the last letter. New York Magazine’s handwriting roundup even points to examples from Letters to Trump and older correspondence where he signs “Donald” with that tell-tale tail.
Independent analysts haven’t certified the page, no one serious will without the original, but several document examiners told reporters the Epstein-book signature shares visible similarities with Trump’s known writing, while cautioning they need the physical artifact to say more. Translation: the tail test doesn’t rescue Trump; it actually cuts against him.
Meanwhile, Trump tried to slam the shutters, calling the whole thing a “dead issue.” It isn’t. The image came out of a 2003 leather-bound scrapbook Maxwell compiled for Epstein’s 50th—a page with a crude silhouette of a naked woman framing a typed back-and-forth where “Donald” gushes, “We have certain things in common, Jeffrey,” capped by a squiggly “Donald” below the waist – yes, exactly where you think. (If you’re wondering, major outlets published those details months before this week’s release.)
The White House line is still “fake”, and they even said they’d support a forensic look (which, of course, would require the original). But if Team Trump wants to hang its hat on “signature anatomy,” the paper trail makes that hat look awfully small. Over decades, Trump alternates between full-name barbed-wire autographs and casual first-name sign-offs, many with that long, unmistakable tail.
Why the “tail” matters
- Consistency: When Trump signs only “Donald,” he frequently drags a descending tail on the last “d.” The Epstein page shows… a descending tail.
- Pattern, not a one-off: Media compilations surfaced multiple first-name signatures with the same geometry (D spike → compressed ondn → long tail). It’s a pattern, not a single lucky match.
- Experts’ caution cuts both ways: They can’t authenticate from a screenshot—but they also can’t dismiss it. Visual overlap + a consistent “tail” motif keeps this very much alive.
Bottom line (and it’s ugly):
Trump world says: “Not his words, not his signature, wrong tail.” The documents and the archives say that tail looks exactly like his, and it has for years. Until an actual lab gets the original page, the “dead issue” talking point is just that: talk.
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