--- title: Trump Orb Memes in Saudia Arabia Explainer description: An image of President Trump touching a glowing orb at a summit in Saudi Arabia has lit up the internet with its reflective glow. canonical: https://time.com/4788054/trump-orb-memes/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-22T15:38:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:03:33.953Z og:title: President Trump touched an orb and illuminated the internet og:description: The orb inspired countless memes, what was it really about? og:url: https://time.com/4788054/trump-orb-memes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24a16e0d64eb9753/6988ce4da988cac5f36bc54d/trump-middle-east-5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: Second Day Of President Trump To Saudi Arabia - Riyadh og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump touched an orb and illuminated the internet twitter:description: The orb inspired countless memes, what was it really about? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24a16e0d64eb9753/6988ce4da988cac5f36bc54d/trump-middle-east-5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Touched an Orb and Illuminated the Internet > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=0629bc43-0a1b-470c-98c0-6a71f55f53d6&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Trump and King Salman Open New Center to Combat Extremism [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump and King Salman Open New Center to Combat Extremism](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EzGN1eBA.m3u8) (1:30)  _Published 2017-05-22. President Trump and Saudi Arabia's King Salman open a new center in Riyadh dedicated to monitor and combat extremism._ by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman May 22, 2017 3:38 PM UTC President Trump and Saudi Arabia's King Salman open a new center in Riyadh dedicated to monitor and combat extremism. by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman May 22, 2017 3:38 PM UTC An image of [President Trump touching a glowing orb](http://time.com/4784027/president-trump-foreign-trip/) at a summit in Saudi Arabia has lit up the internet with its reflective glow. The luminescent orb in the viral photo was a ceremonial touch. Trump, along with the [Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi](http://time.com/4775040/donald-trump-time-interview-being-president/), [King Salman bin Abdulaziz](http://time.com/3679573/saudi-arabia-king-salman/) and First Lady Melania Trump, were inaugurating the new Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The leaders and the First Lady placed their palms on the volleyball-sized glass orb in the dark room to “activate” the center, and illuminate the scene. Two speakers explained that the center would aim to monitor [extremist](http://ti.me/2osIND2) activity online, with data analysts who specialize in hate speech, the [Saudi Gazette](http://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-arabia/center-combat-extremist-ideology-inaugurated/) reported. “We want to convey a message to the West and the world that the Muslim world is not an enemy,” Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said, the Saudi-owned [Al Arabiya](http://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2017/05/22/All-you-need-to-know-on-the-Global-Center-for-Combating-Extremism-in-Riyadh.html) reported. According to the report, a number of countries founded the center to “cooperate with the governments and organizations to prevail and promote a culture of moderation.” Naturally, the unique sphere inspired many memes online where people couldn’t resist comparing the photo to all kinds of pop culture moments that included another thing that glowed. Some of Trump’s critics got imaginative, comparing the photo to villainous comic book and sci-fi movie themes. > [](https://twitter.com/bhgross144/status/866382629616189440) > [](https://twitter.com/Choplogik/status/866397695308554240) > [](https://twitter.com/Mikel%5FJollett/status/866391741498146816) > [](https://twitter.com/brianklaas/status/866403349553451008) > [](https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/866468174618820610) > [](https://twitter.com/jimgeraghty/status/866373987781140480) > [](https://twitter.com/KrangTNelson/status/866435249819066369) > [](https://twitter.com/TibiusReynolds/status/866438825307906048) > [](https://twitter.com/HayesBrown/status/866375617201176576) > [](https://twitter.com/markberman/status/866384998848503809) > [](https://twitter.com/jordan%5Fstratton/status/866391044568608768) > [](https://twitter.com/whatwouldDOOdo/status/866483955448520704) > [](https://twitter.com/ghweldon/status/866375635706331137) > [](https://twitter.com/cinegirl14/status/866452737445076992) > [](https://twitter.com/ChaseClynch%5F/status/866389562284703749) > [](https://twitter.com/3bitGamerShow/status/866492152095719424) > [](https://twitter.com/historicus91/status/866375946248622080) > [](https://twitter.com/hodgman/status/866645936746921985) Saudi Arabia was President Trump’s first stop on his first trip abroad. During a speech Sunday, Trump urged Muslims to combat a “crisis of Islamic extremism,” an apparent shift from past remarks. President Trump has not yet commented on the meeting itself, but shared his speech to his [Twitter](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/866334629036384256), which you can read [here](http://time.com/4787609/donald-trump-saudi-arabia-speech-2/). ## Transcript [01:02] [ MUSIC ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] [01:03] [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4788054/trump-orb-memes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4788054/trump-orb-memes/"},"headline":"President Trump Touched an Orb and Illuminated the Internet","datePublished":"2017-05-22T15:38:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-08T09:03:33.953Z","description":"An image of President Trump touching a glowing orb at a summit in Saudi Arabia has lit up the internet with its reflective glow.","url":"https://time.com/4788054/trump-orb-memes/","keywords":["Newsfeed","politics","White House","Saudi Arabia","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24a16e0d64eb9753/6988ce4da988cac5f36bc54d/trump-middle-east-5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24a16e0d64eb9753/6988ce4da988cac5f36bc54d/trump-middle-east-5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Second Day Of President Trump To Saudi Arabia - Riyadh","caption":"Second Day Of President Trump To Saudi Arabia - Riyadh","creditText":"Balkis Press/Sipa USA/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4788054/trump-orb-memes/","name":"President Trump Touched an Orb and Illuminated the Internet"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"President Trump and King Salman Open New Center to Combat Extremism","description":"President Trump and Saudi Arabia's King Salman open a new center in Riyadh dedicated to monitor and combat extremism.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/EzGN1eBA/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-05-22T14:08:58.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EzGN1eBA.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4788054/trump-orb-memes/","duration":"PT1M30S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4788054/trump-orb-memes/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```