# Trump's First Order of Business
In January 2017, newly inaugurated President Donald Trump was photographed holding up a folder displaying his freshly signed executive order, giving the internet a blank canvas it could not resist. Within 48 hours, Redditors were photoshopping anything from Dickbutt to Pokemon cards into the folder, spawning a template that produced the @TrumpDraws Twitter account and a flood of political image macros.
## Origin
The source footage comes from January 23rd, 2017, when Trump signed a batch of executive orders including a memorandum withdrawing the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership[3]. That same day, Redditor guygoald posted an animated GIF to /r/HighQualityGifs that replaced the executive order with a Dickbutt illustration, which climbed to more than 25,000 upvotes with an 89% approval rate within 48 hours[4].
The following day, a Redditor named foozefookie dropped a clean cutout template of Trump holding the folder into the comments of a /r/memeeconomy repost, which turned the gag into a reusable format other users could grab in seconds[3].
- **Platform:** Reddit (template origin) / Twitter (viral spread via @TrumpDraws)
- **Creator:** Redditor guygoald (earliest viral edit)
- **Date:** 2017
## Overview
Trump's First Order of Business is a photoshop template built around a video of President Donald Trump proudly displaying the open folder containing a freshly signed executive order to press photographers in the Oval Office[1]. The pose, folder held high, signature exposed, offered an obvious editable surface, which the internet treated as an invitation[2].
Edits typically swap the signed order for something absurd or juvenile: a Dickbutt drawing, a binder of Pokemon cards, a page declaring 'anime is now illegal'[3]. The joke works by pairing the solemn ritual of a presidential signing with content that undercuts it, and the template is flexible enough that creators barely need captions to land the gag.
## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Trump's First Order of Business?
It is a photoshop and GIF format built around footage of Donald Trump holding up the folder containing his first executive orders in January 2017, with editors swapping the signed page for jokes[1].
### Where did Trump's First Order of Business come from?
The source footage is from Trump's January 23rd, 2017 signing session, and the earliest viral edit was a Dickbutt GIF posted by Redditor guygoald to /r/HighQualityGifs that same day[4].
### What does Trump's First Order of Business mean?
The gag pairs the formality of a presidential signing with absurd or childish content in the folder, mocking the signing ritual itself rather than making a specific policy argument[1].
### How do you use Trump's First Order of Business?
Creators typically grab the Trump-holding-folder template Redditor foozefookie shared on /r/memeeconomy and photoshop a new image or text onto the executive order page[3].
### Is Trump's First Order of Business still popular?
It is a classic 2017 photoshop template rather than an active trend, best remembered through the @TrumpDraws Twitter account that drew press coverage during its original run[2].
## References
1. [https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/trump-draws-executive-order-gifs/]()
2. [https://nymag.com/selectall/2017/01/trump-draws-twitter-has-trump-doodling-horses-dogs-in-oval.html]()
3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/trumps-first-order-of-business]()
4. [https://www.reddit.com/r/HighQualityGifs/comments/5psmjl/a_historic_moment/]()
5. [https://www.reddit.com/r/dankmemes/comments/5ptqdf/first_order_of_business/]()
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Source: https://meme.com/memes/trumps-first-order-of-business
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