# Jd Vance Have You Said Thank You Once > JD Vance Have You Said Thank You Once is a 2025 image-macro meme originating from Vice President Vance's confrontational question to Zelenskyy, featuring babyface edits and baby-talk caption remixes. "Have You Said Thank You Once?" is a political meme originating from U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance's pointed question to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a heated Oval Office meeting on February 28, 2025[1]. The moment, broadcast live to a global audience, sparked a massive wave of mockery online. Critics turned Vance's words into baby talk and paired them with digitally altered "babyface" edits of the Vice President, while supporters framed the quote as a display of strength[3]. ## Origin On February 28, 2025, President Trump and Vice President Vance met with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy at the White House. The stated purpose was to sign a deal granting the U.S. access to Ukraine's rare earth minerals[1]. The meeting, held in the Oval Office with press present, went off the rails in its final ten minutes. The exchange grew heated when Zelenskyy challenged Vance's call for diplomacy with Russia, pointing out that Putin had broken "his own signature 25 times" on ceasefire agreements[1]. Vance fired back: "I think it's disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media"[2]. Zelenskyy responded, "Have you ever been to Ukraine that you say what problems we have?"[2]. When Zelenskyy noted that the U.S. would one day "feel" the consequences of the war, Trump erupted: "You're gambling with World War III"[1]. Then came the line. Vance asked Zelenskyy: "Have you said, 'Thank you,' once this entire meeting?"[4]. No minerals deal was signed. Shortly after, Zelenskyy was asked to leave the White House[1]. X user @Acyn clipped the key moment and posted it on February 28th. The clip pulled over 21.5 million views and 133,000 likes in three days[4]. - **Platform:** White House press pool (source moment), Twitter / X (viral spread) - **Creator:** @Acyn (viral clip), @TheMisterFrog (viral babyface edit), @CNLiberalism (propeller hat edit) - **Date:** 2025 ## Overview The meme centers on a single line from Vice President J.D. Vance during a live, televised meeting with President Trump and President Zelenskyy. After a tense exchange about U.S. military aid to Ukraine, Vance turned to Zelenskyy and asked, "Have you said, 'Thank you,' once this entire meeting?"[4]. The question was widely clipped, shared, and mocked. Critics saw it as condescending and childish, especially given that Zelenskyy had publicly thanked the United States dozens of times[3]. Supporters viewed it as Vance standing up for American interests[3]. The dominant meme format paired the quote (or baby-talk versions of it) with digitally altered photos of Vance featuring rounder cheeks, a propeller hat, a lollipop, or other infantilizing elements. These "babyface edits" built on a trend that had actually started months earlier, in October 2024, when a user on X began progressively rounding Vance's face for likes[3]. ## How It Spread The meme moved fast. Within hours of the meeting, the White House's official X account posted a photo of Vance with his own quote as the caption: "Have you said thank you once?" That post hit 59.1 million views and 157,000 likes in three days[4]. Quote tweets rolled in immediately. X user @CNLiberalism attached a babyface edit of Vance wearing a propeller hat and holding a lollipop, picking up over 53,000 likes[4]. User @TheMisterFrog posted a babyface version of the White House photo with the caption "YOU SHOULDA SAID PWEASE," which exploded to 27.2 million views and 363,000 likes in the same three-day window[4]. On Reddit, user GermanDronePilot shared a screen recording to r/UkraineWarVideoReport showing Zelenskyy's recent tweets thanking world leaders one after another. The post earned over 37,000 upvotes[4]. That content was itself a repost of a tweet by @KareemRifai, which had racked up 20.3 million views and 428,000 likes[4]. By March 3, 2025, a Community Note was appended to the White House's original tweet, listing multiple instances where Zelenskyy had already said "thank you" to the United States before Vance's question[4]. On March 5, Vance addressed the meme trend in an interview with The Blaze's Julio Rosas, saying he thought the babyface edits were funny[3]. Media studies professor Jamie Cohen of New York's Queens College told The Washington Post the memes functioned as a "Rorschach test for politics," with the left portraying Vance as "a petulant child throwing a tantrum" and the right seeing "a hardened hero championing America First"[3]. The meme's reach extended well beyond social media. Users created versions depicting Vance as Bob Ross, a Despicable Me Minion, an alien, an emo kid, and chicken nuggets[3]. Conservative counter-memes framed Vance using the GigaChad format, portraying him as a nationalist icon with a sharp jawline[3]. ## How to Use The meme typically works in one of three formats: **Baby-talk quote:** Take Vance's original question and rewrite it in exaggerated baby talk. "You have to say pwease and tank you" is the classic version, but variations like "did you even say fank you" or "whewe's my fank you" are common[4]. **Babyface edit:** Take any photo of Vance and digitally round his cheeks, shrink his features, add a propeller hat, a lollipop, or a bib. Pair it with a baby-talk caption[4]. **Contrast/reaction:** Use the "Thank you" quote to mock situations where someone demands gratitude they haven't earned. Works as a reaction image or as a setup for ironic commentary[5]. People commonly apply the format to workplace dynamics, relationship humor, or any situation involving entitled demands for appreciation. ## Cultural Impact The meme's reach extended from social media into government chambers and international diplomacy. Jamie Cohen told The Washington Post that the trend sat at the intersection of "politics, technology, and online culture," noting that AI tools and apps like Facetune had made it trivially easy to alter photos of public figures[3]. The Norwegian tourist detention incident turned the meme into a free speech flashpoint. When Bacik held up the printed meme in the Irish Dáil, it marked one of the few times a U.S. political meme was physically displayed in a foreign parliament as evidence in a policy debate[6]. The U.S. Embassy's confirmation that visa applicants' social media would be reviewed only amplified concerns about memes being treated as grounds for denial of entry[6]. The White House's decision to tweet Vance's quote as a triumphant caption backfired when the Community Note was appended, turning the official account's post into unintentional self-mockery[4]. ## Fun Facts - The White House official account's tweet of Vance's quote received a Community Note documenting all the times Zelenskyy had already said "thank you" to the United States[4]. - Vance himself said he found the babyface edits funny in a March 5, 2025 interview with The Blaze[3]. - The babyface editing trend began in October 2024, months before the Oval Office incident, when an X user promised to progressively round Vance's cheeks for every 100 likes[3]. - A Norwegian tourist was denied entry to the U.S. in June 2025 after ICE agents found the Vance baby meme on his phone[6]. - Irish Labour leader Ivana Bacik physically held up a printed copy of the meme in the Irish parliament while questioning government policy on U.S. visa requirements[6]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Where did the meme come from? From a live White House meeting between Trump, Vance, and Zelenskyy. X user @Acyn clipped the moment, and the video pulled over 21.5 million views in three days[4]. ### What does the meme mean? For critics, it mocks Vance for acting entitled and childish during a serious diplomatic exchange. For supporters, it represents Vance demanding proper respect for American aid to Ukraine[3]. ### How do you use the meme? Either rewrite Vance's quote in baby talk ("pwease and tank you"), edit his face to look rounder and more infantile, or use the quote as a reaction to anyone demanding unearned gratitude[4]. ### Is "Have You Said Thank You Once?" still popular? Yes. As of mid-2025, the meme saw a significant second wave when it was displayed in the Irish parliament and linked to a Norwegian tourist's deportation from the U.S.[6]. ### What happened during the Oval Office meeting? Trump and Vance berated Zelenskyy on live television. The meeting was meant to produce a minerals deal, but no deal was signed and Zelenskyy was asked to leave the White House[1]. ### Did Zelenskyy actually never say thank you? No. A Community Note on the White House's own tweet documented multiple instances of Zelenskyy publicly thanking the United States before the meeting[4]. @KareemRifai's compilation of Zelenskyy's thank-you tweets to world leaders got over 20 million views[4]. ### What did Vance think about the memes? He told The Blaze on March 5, 2025 that he thought the babyface meme trend was funny[3]. ### When did the babyface edits of Vance start? In October 2024, before the Oval Office incident. An X user began progressively rounding Vance's cheeks in a viral post that got over 7 million views[3]. ### Was someone really deported for having this meme? A 21-year-old Norwegian tourist was denied entry to the U.S. at Newark Airport in June 2025 after ICE agents found the Vance baby meme on his phone. He was detained for five hours and sent back to Oslo[6]. ### How did the meme reach international politics? Irish Labour leader Ivana Bacik held up a printed copy of the Vance baby meme in the Dáil chamber on June 25, 2025, while questioning the government about new U.S. visa social media checks[6]. ### What is the "pwease and tank you" version? It's the dominant baby-talk rewrite of Vance's quote, popularized by a viral post captioned "You have to say pwease and tank you, Mistow Zensky" that crossed 13 million views[3]. ## References 1. [Did You Say Thank You Once? The Story Behind the Viral - Toxigon]() 2. [What Vance thinks about all those memes with his distorted face - Yahoo News UK]() 3. [Irish Labour Leader Holds Up JD Vance Meme Over U.S. Visa Concerns | Crooks and Liars]() 4. [J.D. Vance "Have You Said Thank You Once?" - Know Your Meme]() 5. [Here’s what Trump, Zelenskyy and Vance said during heated argument in the Oval Office - The Hindu]() 6. [Zelenskyy leaves White House without signing minerals deal | AP News]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/jd-vance-have-you-said-thank-you-once Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library