Very Legal And Very Cool

2018Catchphrase / reaction phrasesemi-active

Published March 24, 2026

Also known as: Very Legal & Very Cool

"Very Legal and Very Cool" is a catchphrase meme based on a November 30, 2018 tweet from Donald Trump, in which he described his business dealings during the presidential campaign as "very legal & very cool." The phrase immediately became a sarcastic shorthand for describing situations that are clearly problematic or suspicious, with Twitter users applying it to everything from historical scandals to everyday absurdities.

trump memescatchphrase memespolitical satire memessarcasm memes

Overview

"Very Legal and Very Cool" is a sarcastic catchphrase drawn directly from a tweet by President Donald Trump. The phrase works as ironic commentary: people apply it to situations that are obviously not legal, not cool, or both. The format is simple. Take any dubious, shady, or outright illegal situation and caption it with "very legal and very cool" to highlight the absurdity. The humor comes from the disconnect between the breezy, dismissive tone of the original tweet and the seriousness of the allegations Trump was responding to.

Origin & Background

Platform
Twitter
Creator
Donald Trump
Date
2018

On November 29, 2018, Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty in a Manhattan courtroom to lying to Congress about efforts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow during the 2016 presidential campaign2. Cohen admitted he had made false statements to congressional investigators about the duration of negotiations and the extent of Trump's involvement, which court documents identified as "Individual 1"2. The plea was part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election1.

The following day, Trump took to Twitter to respond. He wrote: "Oh, I get it! I am a very good developer, happily living my life, when I see our Country going in the wrong direction (to put it mildly). Against all odds, I decide to run for President & continue to run my business-very legal & very cool, talked about it on the campaign trail..."1. In a follow-up tweet, he added: "Lightly looked at doing a building somewhere in Russia. Put up zero money, zero guarantees and didn't do the project. Witch Hunt!"1. The initial tweet pulled in more than 20,000 retweets and 94,000 likes within 24 hours3.

How It Spread

The phrase caught fire almost immediately. Political science writer Brian Klaas quote-tweeted Trump, writing: "Here's the President of the United States saying it was 'very legal and very cool' to covertly be developing a business venture with one of America's foremost geopolitical adversaries while that adversary was using information warfare to attack American democracy to help him win"3. His tweet picked up over 1,100 retweets and 2,800 likes in a single day3.

Within hours, Twitter users started applying "very legal and very cool" sarcastically to all sorts of situations, from historical crimes to mundane workplace grievances3. The joke format was dead simple: describe something obviously shady and tag it with the phrase. NBC News, The Washington Post, and The Daily Dot all covered the tweet and its memetic aftermath1.

Trump's tweet also drew attention because it directly contradicted his previous statements. In July 2016, he had told reporters: "No, I have nothing to do with Russia. How many times do I have to say that?"1. Yet Cohen's guilty plea confirmed the Moscow project was still being actively pursued at that time1. This gap between Trump's public denials and the court record gave the meme an extra layer of irony that fueled its spread.

How to Use This Meme

The format is straightforward:

1

Identify a situation that is clearly questionable, illegal, unethical, or just plain sketchy.

2

Describe it plainly or post an image/screenshot of it.

3

Add "very legal and very cool" as a caption, comment, or reply.

Cultural Impact

The meme arrived during one of the most intense periods of the Mueller investigation, and it gave people a quick, punchy way to comment on the rolling political news cycle of late 2018. Multiple major news outlets covered the tweet itself as a news story, with NBC News running the headline "Trump says business dealings during campaign were 'very legal' and 'very cool'"1. The phrase became a staple of political Twitter for months afterward, often surfacing whenever new developments in the Mueller probe or Trump's business dealings made headlines.

The tweet also marked what NBC described as "a distinct shift from his past rhetoric" on Russia, making the meme useful as a shorthand reference to the broader pattern of Trump's evolving statements about his Russian business interests1.

Fun Facts

Trump's tweet came just one day after Cohen's guilty plea, making the turnaround from courtroom drama to meme template remarkably fast13.

Cohen said in court that he made false statements to Congress "out of loyalty to the president" and to align with Trump's "political messaging"2.

The Moscow tower discussions were happening at the same time Russian intelligence operatives were hacking emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, according to a grand jury indictment2.

Trump called Cohen a "weak person" on the same day the tweet went viral1.

Frequently Asked Questions