--- title: Donald Trump State of the Union Clapping Inspires Jokes description: Trump's State of the Union clapping inspires a ton of clapback memes. canonical: https://time.com/5126189/donald-trump-state-union-clapping/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-31T03:50:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:50:14.330Z og:title: Donald Trump Clapped at His Own Speech. The Internet Clapped Back og:description: His critics spent the State of the Union speech joking about his audible claps og:url: https://time.com/5126189/donald-trump-state-union-clapping/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltac0043da767d4191/6988fa0f8fd2ee05fa35a814/gettyimages-912419280.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: President Trump Addresses The Nation In His First State Of The Union Address To Joint Session Of Congress og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Clapped at His Own Speech. The Internet Clapped Back twitter:description: His critics spent the State of the Union speech joking about his audible claps twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltac0043da767d4191/6988fa0f8fd2ee05fa35a814/gettyimages-912419280.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Clapped at His Own Speech. The Internet Clapped Back by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Jan 31, 2018 3:50 AM UTC  President Donald J. Trump claps during the State of the Union address in Washington, DC. on Jan. 30, 2018. President Donald J. Trump claps during the State of the Union address in Washington, DC. on Jan. 30, 2018.Win McNamee—Getty Images by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Jan 31, 2018 3:50 AM UTC [President Donald Trump](http://time.com/5126140/donald-trump-executive-order-guantanamo-bay-open/) clapped at his own State of the Union, and his [internet critics](http://time.com/5126029/state-union-donald-trump-energy/) couldn’t resist taking a few shots. As Trump punctuated his first [State of the Union address](http://time.com/5126029/state-union-donald-trump-energy/) to Congress with applause, a nearby microphone amplified his own clapping. Hillary Clinton’s former running mate Sen. Tim Kaine also got a taste of the internet’s jokes for his clapping, but the sound of Trump’s hands was the major talking point. > [](https://twitter.com/carolrhartsell/status/958529256744804352) See a sampling of the reactions below. > [](https://twitter.com/larrywilmore/status/958524080147243009) > [](https://twitter.com/Olivianuzzi/status/958528237746999297) > [](https://twitter.com/jonnysun/status/958527898478137344) > [](https://twitter.com/CillizzaCNN/status/958522367784947713) > [](https://twitter.com/YourAnonNews/status/958534464849690625) > [](https://twitter.com/wardahkhalid%5F/status/958529160938389504) > [](https://twitter.com/RalstonReports/status/958522551281508352) > [](https://twitter.com/GraceParra360/status/958526559521988608) > [](https://twitter.com/devdevnumnums/status/958528315635019776) > [](https://twitter.com/IsabellaCigno/status/958529364630568960) > [](https://twitter.com/Shakestweetz/status/958528255497207811) > [](https://twitter.com/jonmladd/status/958527309606252545) > [](https://twitter.com/aravosis/status/958530477559894017) > [](https://twitter.com/mialynneb/status/958530704639479809) > [](https://twitter.com/bengreenman/status/958534313670336514) > [](https://twitter.com/jodyavirgan/status/958533682993815552) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5126189/donald-trump-state-union-clapping/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5126189/donald-trump-state-union-clapping/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Clapped at His Own Speech. 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