--- title: Donald Trump Solar Eclipse Photo Becomes Internet Meme description: President Donald Trump appeared to glance at the solar eclipse from the White House balcony and the photo quickly became a viral meme. canonical: https://time.com/4909526/trump-eclipse-meme/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-21T20:16:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:30:20.745Z og:title: Trump Looked at the Eclipse Without Glasses. The Internet Had a Field Day og:description: See the best Trump eclipse memes og:url: https://time.com/4909526/trump-eclipse-meme/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6808d6763a81770f/6988da7dab6d774e826af7ad/washington-dc-solar-eclipse-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3040 og:image:height: 1710 og:image:alt: washington-dc-solar-eclipse-2 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Looked at the Eclipse Without Glasses. The Internet Had a Field Day twitter:description: See the best Trump eclipse memes twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6808d6763a81770f/6988da7dab6d774e826af7ad/washington-dc-solar-eclipse-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Looked at the Eclipse Without Glasses. The Internet Had a Field Day > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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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=3bc9d5a1-c977-44bc-a070-7d2987a106af&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Trump Looked at the Eclipse Without Glasses [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Looked at the Eclipse Without Glasses](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/4toKLHOZ.m3u8) (0:39)  _Published 2017-08-21. Trump Looks at Eclipse Without Glasses_ by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Aug 21, 2017 8:16 PM UTC Trump Looks at Eclipse Without Glasses by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Aug 21, 2017 8:16 PM UTC After potentially riding too close to the sun, [President Trump is a meme](http://time.com/4799145/donald-trump-covfefe-meme/) again. This time it happened on [a big day for unifying America](http://time.com/4907357/total-solar-eclipse-2017-america/?xid=homepage). As the President and First Lady Melania Trump watched [the solar eclipse](http://time.com/4900280/total-solar-eclipse-2017-video-watch/?xid=homepage) from a White House balcony, the press was on deck to snap photos. While Trump wore the prescribed protective lenses for most of the viewing, there was one photo that captured Trump glancing and pointing at the sky during the cosmic spectacle without his safety eyewear. That one snap in particular has spread across the Internet thanks to the quick Twitter fingers of his critics. In the live official White House video shared to YouTube, an aide could be heard yelling, “Don’t look!” around the time Trump appeared to point and look upward twice. Shortly after, Trump had his glasses on for the event. As NASA has warned, [soaking up the eclipse without the right gear is not a safe move](http://time.com/4890397/solar-eclipse-damage-eyes-protect/). So people had fun with this photo.  President Donald Trump points skyward before donning protective glasses to view the solar eclipse, Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, at the White House in Washington . Andrew Harnik—AP > [](https://twitter.com/scott%5Ftobias/status/899707839647801350) > [](https://twitter.com/axios/status/899707278647070720) > [](https://twitter.com/leyawn/status/899657260154138625) > [](https://twitter.com/PFTompkins/status/899705166403846144) > [](https://twitter.com/TMannWSJ/status/899702782206386177) > [](https://twitter.com/sahilkapur/status/899709396535652353) > [](https://twitter.com/KT%5FSo%5FIt%5FGoes/status/899706740794679296) > [](https://twitter.com/TasneemN/status/899709140452487168) > [](https://twitter.com/JustinWolfers/status/899709043467583488) > [](https://twitter.com/jbillinson/status/899707450538024961) > [](https://twitter.com/jules%5Fsu/status/899707355180527616) > [](https://twitter.com/ArielCohen37/status/899708434475606016) > [](https://twitter.com/GideonResnick/status/899706343476658176) > [](https://twitter.com/sarahcwestwood/status/899706217722982402) > [](https://twitter.com/RPMSports18/status/899710432453304321) > [](https://twitter.com/danWorthington/status/899709033405460480) Long before this moment, Trump’s critics were already going for eclipse-themed Trump satire. > [](https://twitter.com/alissascheller/status/899650132169326592) > [](https://twitter.com/JenKirkman/status/899477667195396098) Becoming a meme is an area the President has a great amount of [expertise in](http://time.com/4886389/trump-local-milk-people-meme/), and someone even used the eclipse to resurrect an old meme. > [](https://twitter.com/brianmcarey/status/899699189290070017) ## Transcript [00:00] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [00:09] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [00:19] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4909526/trump-eclipse-meme/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4909526/trump-eclipse-meme/"},"headline":"President Trump Looked at the Eclipse Without Glasses. 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