The Best Memes of the Trumps’ State Dinner and Visit to the U.K.
It’s only day two of Donald Trump‘s state visit to the U.K., but it’s already felt more like a week. That might be because the drama started even before Trump headed overseas, after the Sun published an interview in which he referred to Meghan Markle as “nasty.” By the next day, he’d denied doing so—even though there’s audio that proves otherwise—but the damage was done. (Which might explain his midair decision to log on to Twitter and call London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, a “stone cold loser” just before he landed in the city.)
Conveniently enough, Markle is currently on maternity leave, which has reprieved her of any Trump-related duties. But the president has not been lacking in company; perhaps to make the most of taxpayers’ money, he decided to turn the trip into a family vacation. Naturally, Ivanka Trump was the first to arrive—she spent her Sunday taking in the V&A’s current exhibitions on Dior and the designer Mary Quant—though Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Tiffany Trump all arrived just in time for dinner with the royal family on Monday.
Whether the royal family was happy to have them is another story. (London, for what it’s worth, is once again flooded with anti-Trump protests, meaning the giant Trump baby blimp is back.) Of course, the royals have minded their manners so far, but quite a few Twitter and Instagram users haven’t been afraid to speak for them. Take, for example, one user who imagined that Queen Elizabeth II greeted the president wearing one of Viktor & Rolf’s couture meme dresses, emblazoned with the bold, all-caps phrase, “SORRY I’M LATE I DIDN’T WANT TO COME.” (Let’s not forget that time last summer when the president insisted that the Queen left him hanging for 15 minutes, even though there was video proof that it was actually Trump who showed up to tea 10 minutes late.)
Alas, the Queen did not actually wear the above dress, but she did in fact appear to sneak in some shade by giving him, of all things, a book. In return, Trump gave her a silver Tiffany & Co. brooch—though perhaps he wasn’t the one personally doing the gifting. When the asked if he recognized a statue on display in Buckingham Palace, Trump failed to recognize it as the gift he gave the Queen last July. (Melania’s memory was slightly better: “I think we gave that to the Queen,” she chimed in.)
But on Monday night, the Internet reached new levels of creativity. A photo of Trump’s children—Eric, Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Tiffany, plus spouses Lara Trump and Jared Kushner—quickly went viral, thanks to their extremely varied approaches to formalwear. Take a closer look, and you’ll find Eric Trump, unshaven and stepping on his sister Ivanka’s dress, as well as the oft-overlooked Tiffany Trump, who not only managed to nab an invite, but chose to stand directly in front of a “no photography” sign. Many also found a what looked to be a family of plantation owners, straight out of Gone with the Wind.
And yet, Donald Trump still managed to stand out. While it was far from the only, um, unique choice of tailoring, his cropped dinner jacket did not go unnoticed.
The day before he headed to London, Trump also set himself apart. His decision to sweep back his infamous hair on a visit to an evangelical church on Sunday earned him quite a few comparisons to the Church of Scientology’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard.
Meanwhile, it’s hard to believe that Ivanka Trump could have posted the below photo of herself and Kushner staring, dead-eyed, out of Buckingham Palace’s windows, without instantly recognizing its memeable potential.
Though the same, of course, couldn’t be said for the rest of the Internet.
Related: Is President Trump Really Trying to Start a Feud With Meghan Markle?
