Story highlights Trump signed a public lands executive order Wednesday

He joked about the Maine governor's weight loss

Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump teased the appearance of outspoken Maine Gov. Paul LePage during an executive order signing Wednesday, offering him a time-tested back-handed compliment.

Trump introduced the governor, adding that "he's lost a lot of weight."

Vice President Mike Pence and Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke chuckled behind him.

"I knew him when he was heavy, and now I know him when he was thin, and I like him both ways," the President said in an office at the Interior Department.

The comments came during an executive order signing regarding national monuments and the Antiquities Act signed by the Obama administration.

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