An image circulated online in May 2026 that claimed to authentically show a memo from the White House's chief butler accusing staff of stealing cutlery and tableware.
For example, a Threads user posted the alleged memo on May 7. It began (archived):
It has come to the attention of the Butler's Office that the ongoing pilferage, disapperaance, unauthorized relocation, and probable theft of White House cutlery and related table service items has now reached a level that can only be described as both operationally disruptive and deeply irritating.
According to the memo, allegedly sent by Edwin P. Markham, the White House's chief butler, 1,103 pieces of cutlery and tableware from the White House inventory were missing on April 29, 2026.
The memo circulated mainly on Threads (archived, archived, archived) but also on Facebook (archived). Some users seemed to interpret the rumor as true. Snopes readers contacted us to investigate its legitimacy.
The claim appeared to originate from a Facebook user called Robert Hawks, who posted (archived) the alleged memo on May 7, 2026. Hawks appeared to claim ownership of the post later that same day, reposting the alleged memo and writing (archived): "My only regret is that I thought of a way great joke to top the whole thing with and that was to demand the explanation of 2433 missing salt shakers."
Because of this and because there were elements within the text itself that revealed it wasn't a genuine White House document, we've rated this claim a fake.
A White House spokesperson called the alleged memo "Fake News" in an email on May 7.
Snopes contacted Hawks to confirm whether he created the memo and for his response to the post circulating online without indications that it was a joke and await a reply.
Aside from Hawks' own comment, other elements of the alleged memo revealed it to be fake.
For example, below an inventory of allegedly missing cutlery and tableware, the White House's "chief butler" wrote:
Of particular concern is the recurring depletion of salad forks. In the case of salad forks, the White House completely ran out twice and had to utilize, on one occasion, the salad forks from the alternate Air Force One and, on a second occasion, a bag of plastic forks purchased at the local Save-On in Torqueville, Maryland.
"Torqueville, Maryland" does not exist. It could be a reference to a fictional location in the "Cars" movies.
Additionally, though the White House does have butlers as part of the household staff, we found no evidence the presidential residence uses the terms "chief butler" or "Butler's Office" as they appeared on the memo.
According to the White House Historical Association, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that preserves and shares the history of the White House, the chief usher oversees household staff including butlers from the White House Usher's Office. The lead butler, according to the association, uses the French title "maître d'hôtel" or "head butler."
Snopes has previously investigated a number of claims that came from from memos, including whether the FBI designated LGBTQ+ people as terrorists, or whether the Trump administration planned to swap out paper currency with "Trumpcoin."