--- title: Trump Says You Need ID to Buy Groceries, Spurs Viral Reaction description: Trump said you need ID to buy groceries at the rally in Tampa, Florida and the internet naturally went to town. canonical: https://time.com/5354690/trump-rally-groceries/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-08-01T01:03:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:54:06.063Z og:title: Trump Said You Need ID to Buy Groceries og:description: And the internet promptly chimed in with thoughts og:url: https://time.com/5354690/trump-rally-groceries/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltafef8b1ec8c3016c/698936c4db2987713e260518/gettyimages-1008609786.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5568 og:image:height: 3132 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-TRUMP-RALLY og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Said You Need ID to Buy Groceries twitter:description: And the internet promptly chimed in with thoughts twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltafef8b1ec8c3016c/698936c4db2987713e260518/gettyimages-1008609786.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Said 'You Need an ID to Buy Groceries.' 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=e6be6d3b-0afe-4ca6-9aa1-4882fcd87d93&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Aug 1, 2018 1:03 AM UTC  US President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Florida State Fairgrounds Expo Hall in Tampa, Florida, on July 31, 2018. US President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Florida State Fairgrounds Expo Hall in Tampa, Florida, on July 31, 2018. SAUL LOEB—AFP/Getty Images by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Aug 1, 2018 1:03 AM UTC [President Donald Trump’s](http://time.com/5353826/donald-trump-taxes-finances-emoluments-trial/) latest head-scratching comment has lit up the internet. “You know, if you go out and you want to buy groceries, you need a picture on a card, you need ID. You go out and you want to buy anything, you need ID and you need your picture,” [Trump](http://time.com/5353826/donald-trump-taxes-finances-emoluments-trial/) said at Tuesday night’s Tampa, Fla., rally to drum up support for GOP Rep. Ron DeSantis’ gubernatorial bid. He was – in the moment – throwing his support behind tougher ID requirements for voters. “Only American citizens should vote in American elections. The time has come for voter ID like everything else,” [Trump](http://time.com/5317522/donald-trump-border-cover/) said. He deployed that claim as he was saying that the only time people don’t need to present their identification card is when they want to place a vote. He may have been referring to stores that ask to see IDs from credit card holders, but the comment became the fodder for a Twitter-wide joke from people calling out that you don’t need to show your ID to get what you need at the supermarket. Most people quickly set about riffing on the comment. Some took the comment even further by wondering when the POTUS last made a trip to the supermarket. See a sampling of the Twitter reactions to Trump groceries comment below. > [](https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller/status/1024441955562991617) > [](https://twitter.com/Acosta/status/1024443446319349760) > [](https://twitter.com/kathrynw5/status/1024442129064570880) > [](https://twitter.com/LiamWBZ/status/1024443327452774400) > [](https://twitter.com/KailiJoy/status/1024441594341019649) > [](https://twitter.com/dustinjkent/status/1024450316249518081) > [](https://twitter.com/tylercralle/status/1024450137022779392) > [](https://twitter.com/jvagle/status/1024449982965993473) > [](https://twitter.com/iamweswilson/status/1024449735699062784) > [](https://twitter.com/LeonHWolf/status/1024449330382622721) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5354690/trump-rally-groceries/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5354690/trump-rally-groceries/"},"headline":"President Trump Said 'You Need an ID to Buy Groceries.' 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