You just can’t keep US President Donald Trump out of the meme world for too long. Well, at least him and German chancellor Angela Merkel.
On Friday, Merkel’s social media team published the image to Instagram, where it received more than 65 000 likes and 4700 comments. From there, it found its way onto Twitter, where users highlighted the indifferent expressions of the world leaders.
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The scene itself is straight out of a baroque painting.
Angela Merkel’s office has released this photo taken today at the G7, which tells you a lot about how things went. pic.twitter.com/IXX6K3ayys
— David Mack (@davidmackau) June 9, 2018
The discussion was reportedly related to Trump’s threat to stop trade with nations imposing tariffs on goods from the United States.
Please tell Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron that they are charging the U.S. massive tariffs and create non-monetary barriers. The EU trade surplus with the U.S. is $151 Billion, and Canada keeps our farmers and others out. Look forward to seeing them tomorrow.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 7, 2018
In subsequent shots, host of the G7 Canadian PM Justin Trudeau can also be seen, while Trump remains the only individual seated.
A much-tweeted photo shows Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron and other #G7 leaders facing a cross-armed Donald Trump. Interesting to see Justin Trudeau in wider shots standing by the U.S. president. Photographs can be misleading. No way to read a split second… pic.twitter.com/4tK6MkVNe3
— Caroline Arbour (@Caroline_Arbour) June 9, 2018
The perfect instant recipe for a light and fluffy meme? You bet.
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) June 9, 2018
“Just tell us what Vladimir has on you. Maybe we can help.” pic.twitter.com/DLc7YJFXqT
— Guy Verhofstadt (@guyverhofstadt) June 10, 2018
This looks like an episode of Celebrity Apprentice where Trump is about to fire Angela Merkel because her strudel marketing plan fell through. pic.twitter.com/ZLYlaDrNts
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) June 10, 2018
Take of two leaders….
In 2015, President Obama listened to Angela Merkel willingly.
This weekend, Angela Merkel is staring down Donald J Trump.
Look at the body language of the others in the shot.
We used to lead the world people….period. pic.twitter.com/o0JOyCSRXf
— Gregory Moore (@nbascribectx) June 9, 2018
The G7 meme goes viral
Beyond Twitter, Google Trends has also noted an uptick in search queries worldwide related to the picture and resultant memes.
“G7 Meme” and “Donald Trump Angela Merkel” seem to be the most popular, especially in the United States, Canada and Singapore, where Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is this week set to meet in a landmark summit.
The image has also blown up on Reddit.
A single post from r/MemeEconomy has seen more than 3557 positive karma, with 179 comments, and the “BUY BUY BUY” flair. 153 of those posts are users “investing” in the meme’s prosperity.
r/DankMemes has also embraced it.
While the angle of the viral shot seems less than cordial, subsequent snaps published by Bloomberg shows laughter shared amongst the politicians.
That viral photo of Angela Merkel and Donald Trump at the G-7? Other angles of the same shot tell a different story https://t.co/WBO1cXK5EW pic.twitter.com/GXVId5cT3e
— Bloomberg (@business) June 10, 2018
Serious or jovial, this meme is a text book example of a perfectly timed picture.
Feature image: Angela Merkel (@bundeskanzlerin) via Instagram
