Another F-ing Trump Meme: The Top Memes Of The Trump Administration

In July of 2016, I joined KnowYourMeme with the idea that I would spend my days scrolling through Tumblr, Twitter and Reddit to research the latest weird memes, becoming a scholar on Dat Boi and Loss. Instead, the job very quickly became covering Donald Trump.

The 2016 election undoubtedly changed the course of American history and memes. That year saw the alt-right embrace Pepe the Frog and Trump ascend to the office of the Presidency with what some analysts claimed was the power of memes.

During the following four years, Trump dominated the memesphere, as rarely a week went by without him making a tweet, comment or gaffe that got the entire internet talking. His presidency has taken an exhausting toll on the internet's attention economy, and it's no secret that the bevy of Trump memes his presidency generated proved tiresome to meme enthusiasts who prefer their memes much less political. For example, if you've been in the KnowYourMeme comment section in the past four years, you have definitely seen this image:

Alas, Trump has been the internet's main character for the past four years, defining not only a tense and frightening time in America's history but the memes of the era. As of October 30th, searching "Donald Trump" on our site brings up 1,114 entries, over 9,000 images, 1,200 videos and 73 news posts. He is definitely the meme president, for better or worse.

The 2020 election coming up November 3rd again has a chance to radically alter the memesphere: will memes return to a relatively apolitical calm under a Joe Biden administration? Or will we see four more years of Trump memes?

Before we answer that question, let's look back at some of the top Trump memes of his administration. (Note: to qualify for this list, the meme must be related to an image of Trump or something he said or did, and it must have happened during his administration This disqualifies popular Trump-related memes such as Carl the Cuck and The Worst Trade Deal, as they happened during the 2016 election cycle).

5. Trump's First Order Of Business

Views: 82,000

The first top Trump meme, naturally, came shortly after he took office. On January 23rd, 2017, Trump signed an executive order leaving the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership multilateral free trade agreement. Press was there as he signed the order and proudly held it up to be photographed, but as multiple people were to learn over the course of the following four years, never hold up a sign on TV. The moment became ripe for the memeing, as multiple memers imagined the various major orders Trump was handing down.

4. Trump Yelling At Lawn-mowing Boy

Views: 89,000

Much has been made over the course of Trump's administration of his leaning posture and penchant for over-sized suits, and it was best summarized with this meme, showing Trump shouting a boy mowing the White House lawn. It was a perfect reaction image, as Trump looks bewildered and confused as he attempts to yell something at the boy, making for a terrific way to poke fun at Trump whenever bewildering events seemed to happen around him.

3. Trump's Tennis Photograph

Views: 154,000

This picture of Trump in white shorts that also expose a pair of tightie-whities was one of the simplest, most apolitical Trump memes of his presidency. It's a joy to look at the big guy looking ridiculous as he's playing tennis. After it was unearthed in 2017, it became another top exploitable of the Trump administration, as internet denizens found clever ways to edit it.

2. Covfefe

Views: 182,000

The moment that crystallized how bizarre the Trump presidency was going to be was undoubtedly "Covfefe." Early on his presidency, Trump apparently started going off on negative press coverage, somehow typed "covfefe," and hit send, leading to a bizarre few hours where no one was sure if he died in the middle of tweet, Monty Python style. Naturally, it was a simple typo but it was drilled into the ground for years by cringeworthy liberals attempting to dunk on the President. Nowadays, no respectable memer would ever be caught dead using "covfefe."

1. Thank You Kanye, Very Cool!

Views: 313,000

Finally, the top Trump meme from his time in office is "Thank You Kanye, Very Cool!" Trump thanking Kanye West (who himself had a bonkers time during the Trump administration) for saying he had "Dragon Energy" became one of the top Trump exploitables over the course of his administration, leading to multiple edits and a bizarre reference in a 1975 song. It is also, as colleague Matt Schimkowitz pointed out, one of the few Trump memes that didn't quickly become cringeworthy and actually had some staying power. Trump thanking Kanye became one of the defining memes of his Presidency because it came after such an absurd tweet, and remained relevant as a great Sir, this is an Arby's-type response to bewildering information, which has been all too common in the Trump era.

Election Day is Tuesday. Vote! The future of memes depends on it.