The first year of Donald Trump’s presidency has been a rather tumultuous one, to say the least. Divisions along partisan lines are stark, and Trump will end his first year with his lowest average approval rating — 39 percent — since taking office. Bu…
The first year of Donald Trump’s presidency has been a rather tumultuous one, to say the least. Divisions along partisan lines are stark, and Trump will end his first year with his lowest average approval rating — 39 percent — since taking office. But amid the political chaos in the past year, 2017 has also produced many remarkable moments involving Trump that have been immortalized as GIFs.
To start, here’s a recap of just a few of the things that happened during Trump’s first year: He pulled the United States out of the Paris climate agreement and called climate change a hoax. His Republican Party tried and failed (repeatedly) to repeal Obamacare. Trump hired and fired a bunch of people, although some quit on their own. He ostensibly sided with white supremacists in the aftermath a deadly, violent rally in Charlottesville.
And the administration is facing several issues of its own, too. Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating a possible Trump collusion with Russia. The inflammatory rhetoric between Trump and North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, has escalated to a disturbing point. And in the first month of 2018, journalist Michael Wolff dropped his explosive book Fire and Fury that shed light on internal feuding in the Trump administration.
Does that sound like a lot? Here are some GIFs to help you relieve all the best moments of Trump’s first year.
Trump signed 96 laws in 2017, which is actually fewer than his predecessors. Whether he actually knows what he’s signing is another matter considering Trump reportedly doesn’t like to read policy memos.
Trump fulfilled the fantasy of every toddler when he got to climb into the driver’s seat of a Mack truck parked on the White House lawn and honk the horn. That day in March 2017, he was meeting with trucking CEOs to discuss health care bill proposals and he wore a pin that read, « I <3 TRUCKS.”
It seems Trump can’t even drink water without people making a GIF out of it. Here he is awkwardly holding a water bottle with two hands and drinking like it’s a sippy cup.
This moment during Trump’s inauguration sparked plenty of speculations about the first lady. Cameras captures Melania’s face falling into a somber expression after Trump turned his back.
Trump’s contentious relationship with the press is not news, but in July 2017 he tweeted a video of him at Wrestlemania taking down a man with the CNN logo superimposed on his head. The tweet was widely criticized by many people.
Unlike the first lady, Trump chose to ignore warnings not to stare directly at the sun during the solar eclipse in 2017 and did so as dozens of cameras were trained on him. Needless to say, the moment sparked plenty of jokes, memes, and GIFs.
The president’s handshakes with other world leaders have made headlines on their own. Take this seemingly never-ending handshake with Tajikistan’s president, Emomali Rahmon, was one example of that.
Trump’s odd, jerky handshakes are awkward at best. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel couldn’t even get one of Trump’s « yank and pull » handshakes despite she and reporters pressing him for one.
The awkward body language from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a meeting with Trump at the White House was pure GIF gold.
Although Poland’s First Lady didn’t really refuse to shake Trump’s hand, this moment, captured on cameras, sparked plenty of talk on social media.
Trump and the French president were embroiled in a « battle of the handshakes » for a spell in 2017.
Was this even a handshake? During this meeting, Trump also told France’s first lady that she was in « such good shape, » a comment that sparked widespread criticism. « She’s in such good physical shape, » he said. « Beautiful. »
During his visit to Saudi Arabia, Trump, along with King Salman Abdullah and Egypt President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, placed their hands on a glowing orb in a surreal photo op. Many wondered what in the world was going on, and some said it was the near-perfect metaphor for his presidency.
Trump visited the Vatican in May 2017, and during one of the photo ops, many people pointed out that Pope Francis didn’t exactly look like the happiest person standing next to the president of the United States.
In Israel, Melania was captured swatting Trump’s hand away as he reached to hold hers. Many said it was a moment that spoke volumes about their relationship.
During a Halloween celebration at the White House, kids in costumes lined up to get treats from the first couple. Trump, however, appeared flustered by the one in a dinosaur costume and chose to ignore the kid.
It’s safe to say that 2018 will bring many more Trump GIFs.
