2018 North Korea United States Summit

2018eventclassic

The 2018 North Korea United States Summit was the June 12, 2018 meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un at Singapore's Capella Hotel that spawned Reddit photoshops, an emotional Dennis Rodman CNN appearance, and Trump's fake iPad movie trailer casting both leaders as world-saving heroes.

trump memesphotoshop memespolitical satire memes2018 memespress conference memes

Overview

The 2018 North Korea United States Summit was the first ever face-to-face meeting between a sitting US President and a North Korean leader1. Held at the Capella Hotel on Singapore's Sentosa Island on June 12, 2018, the heavily televised handshake between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un instantly turned into remixable material for image macros, animated GIFs, and video edits across Reddit, Twitter, and YouTube2.

The most recognizable frame from the summit is Trump and Kim standing in front of alternating US and North Korean flags with hands clasped between them. Photoshoppers swapped that backdrop into video game menus, movie posters, and cartoon crossovers within hours of the live broadcast.

How It Spread

On summit day, Reddit lit up. An animated GIF of the Trump-Kim handshake hit the front page of /r/gifs with over 74,600 upvotes and 7,100 comments, Redditor ReggieStration's photo captioned "When you finally meet that person you've been talking shit to on Xbox live" pulled 3,860 upvotes on /r/funny, and photoshopped edits swept /r/dankmemes the same day2.

Off Reddit, former NBA player Dennis Rodman appeared on CNN wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat and broke down crying on-air while describing his friendship with Kim, while Trump tweeted a summit video montage that pulled 103,700 likes and 30,700 retweets in its first six hours.

The strangest meme moment came at Trump's post-summit press conference. He told reporters he had shown Kim a fake Hollywood-style movie trailer on an iPad casting the two leaders as world-saving heroes, and a YouTube upload of that trailer crossed one million views and 1,500 comments within 24 hours3. Coverage followed from BuzzFeed, The New York Times, and The Washington Post the same day.

How to Use This Meme

The core template is the Trump-Kim handshake photo in front of the alternating US and North Korean flag backdrop. People typically swap the flag wall for a different setting (video game screen, sitcom title card, movie poster) or replace one of the two leaders with a fictional character to imply an unlikely alliance or awkward meetup. The ReggieStration "Xbox live" caption format is often reused when two people or characters who have been feuding online finally meet in person.

Frequently Asked Questions

2018 North Korea United States Summit

2018eventclassic

The 2018 North Korea United States Summit was the June 12, 2018 meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un at Singapore's Capella Hotel that spawned Reddit photoshops, an emotional Dennis Rodman CNN appearance, and Trump's fake iPad movie trailer casting both leaders as world-saving heroes.

trump memes photoshop memes political satire memes 2018 memes press conference memes

Overview

The 2018 North Korea United States Summit was the first ever face-to-face meeting between a sitting US President and a North Korean leader1. Held at the Capella Hotel on Singapore's Sentosa Island on June 12, 2018, the heavily televised handshake between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un instantly turned into remixable material for image macros, animated GIFs, and video edits across Reddit, Twitter, and YouTube2.

The most recognizable frame from the summit is Trump and Kim standing in front of alternating US and North Korean flags with hands clasped between them. Photoshoppers swapped that backdrop into video game menus, movie posters, and cartoon crossovers within hours of the live broadcast.

How It Spread

On summit day, Reddit lit up. An animated GIF of the Trump-Kim handshake hit the front page of /r/gifs with over 74,600 upvotes and 7,100 comments, Redditor ReggieStration's photo captioned "When you finally meet that person you've been talking shit to on Xbox live" pulled 3,860 upvotes on /r/funny, and photoshopped edits swept /r/dankmemes the same day2.

Off Reddit, former NBA player Dennis Rodman appeared on CNN wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat and broke down crying on-air while describing his friendship with Kim, while Trump tweeted a summit video montage that pulled 103,700 likes and 30,700 retweets in its first six hours.

The strangest meme moment came at Trump's post-summit press conference. He told reporters he had shown Kim a fake Hollywood-style movie trailer on an iPad casting the two leaders as world-saving heroes, and a YouTube upload of that trailer crossed one million views and 1,500 comments within 24 hours3. Coverage followed from BuzzFeed, The New York Times, and The Washington Post the same day.

How to Use This Meme

The core template is the Trump-Kim handshake photo in front of the alternating US and North Korean flag backdrop. People typically swap the flag wall for a different setting (video game screen, sitcom title card, movie poster) or replace one of the two leaders with a fictional character to imply an unlikely alliance or awkward meetup. The ReggieStration "Xbox live" caption format is often reused when two people or characters who have been feuding online finally meet in person.

Frequently Asked Questions