Little girl looks bemused as Trump signs autograph on her hand in permanent marker

Social media users questioned what he had written and why he used permanent marker on the child’s skin

Trump scrawls on a little girl’s hand in permanent marker (PatriotTakes/Twitter)

Running for president may involve a lot of signing autographs – but Donald Trump clearly has a lot to learn about the etiquette.

This week, as he took time out from his legal battles to greet fans on the campaign trail, the former president scrawled on a young girl’s hand in permanent marker.

Footage of the encounter, circulating on social media, shows Mr Trump first shaking the girl’s hand as she perches on the shoulders of a man.

He then takes her hand and writes something on it.

The child looks somewhat bemused by the encounter.

The skin-signing episode prompted much confusion on social media, with many discussing what he had written (”hi” being the main consensus) and why he used permanent marker on the child’s skin.

It is not the first time the president has signed a child’s hand in black marker, after he was pictured doing the exact same thing at Mar-a-Lago back in March.

On that occasion, the child’s mother joked that her daughter could now never wash her hand again, to which Mr Trump responded: “You have no idea.”

The latest incident comes as Mr Trump is hitting a series of stops this week including New Orleans, Iowa and Pennsylvania as he campaigns for the Republican 2024 nomination.

On Saturday, he is set to deliver his first address in Pennsylvania since announcing his candidacy.

While he continues to ramp up his campaign, his legal troubles also continue to escalate.

Sources told NBC News that the former president’s legal and political teams are preparing for the federal grand jury to potentially vote to indict him on charges over the January 6 Capitol riot and his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election as soon as Thursday.

The grand jury was seen arriving at the courthouse in Washington DC on Thursday morning.

Last week, Mr Trump said he had received a letter from special counsel Jack Smith’s office saying he is the target of a grand jury investigation – indicating that a criminal indictment is looming.

Since then, Mr Trump has gone on the attack against his political rivals and Mr Smith, and also posted a video begging Congress to help save him from his escalating legal troubles.

This would mark his third criminal indictment after he was charged with 34 state counts of falsifying business records over hush money payments made prior to the 2016 election and 37 federal charges over his alleged mishandling of classified documents on leaving office.

Despite his legal troubles and slew of alleged crimes, he is currently viewed as the most popular of the Republican presidential hopefuls in a crowded field that also includes his former vice president as well as some of his fomer allies-turned-enemies.