--- title: Trump Saying Opamacare During State of the Union Sparks Meme description: The internet exploded with questions about whether Trump said Opamacare instead of Obamacare during his first state of the union speech. canonical: https://time.com/5126652/trump-state-of-the-union-opamacare/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-31T13:57:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:50:14.421Z og:title: The Internet Is Convinced Trump Said 'Opamacare' in His State of the Union Speech og:description: "Opamacare is the new covfefe." og:url: https://time.com/5126652/trump-state-of-the-union-opamacare/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta4209cdad935747a/6988fa12bc6cfcfc673e4d35/gettyimages-912432270.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4962 og:image:height: 2791 og:image:alt: U.S. President Donald J. Trump claps during the State of the Union address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives January 30, 2018 in Washington, DC. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Internet Is Convinced Trump Said 'Opamacare' in His State of the Union Speech twitter:description: "Opamacare is the new covfefe." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta4209cdad935747a/6988fa12bc6cfcfc673e4d35/gettyimages-912432270.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Internet Is Convinced Trump Said 'Opamacare' in His State of the Union Speech > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. 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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. by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Jan 31, 2018 1:57 PM UTC  U.S. President Donald J. Trump claps during the State of the Union address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives January 30, 2018 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Donald J. Trump claps during the State of the Union address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives January 30, 2018 in Washington, DC. Win McNamee—Getty Images by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Jan 31, 2018 1:57 PM UTC When [President Donald Trump called Obamacare “disastrous” ](http://time.com/5125174/trump-state-of-the-union-address-transcript/) in his first State of the Union address, “Obamacare” sounded more like “Opamacare” to many people watching at home. “We eliminated an especially cruel tax that fell mostly on Americans making less than $50,000 a year — forcing them to pay tremendous penalties simply because they could not afford government-ordered health plans,” he said. “We repealed the core of disastrous Obamacare — the individual mandate is now gone.” And as soon as he touched on the [policy priority to repeal President Barack Obama’s health insurance reform law](http://time.com/5126288/state-union-donald-trump-democrats/), supporters in the House cheered him on. But a lot of people heard “Obamacare” with a “p” instead of a “b,” an apparent verbal snafu that was not ignored on the Internet. Whatever he said, social media commentators seized the opportunity to run with a new way to refer to his predecessor’s health care plan. > [](https://twitter.com/opamacare/status/958531524604977152) > [](https://twitter.com/marcusuntrell/status/958527881864531968) > [](https://twitter.com/AltHomelandSec/status/958529665945157632) > [](https://twitter.com/BigRadMachine/status/958526379200565249) > [](https://twitter.com/SarahBurris/status/958528157644214272) > [](https://twitter.com/MrGerrenalist/status/958526852892643328) > [](https://twitter.com/jonthecubsfan/status/958526262032650240) > [](https://twitter.com/AndrewCouts/status/958526231816916992) > [](https://twitter.com/AustinVesely/status/958526177156718592) > [](https://twitter.com/sarahkliff/status/958526503653867521) As news of the apparent pronunciation kerfluffle spread, one user encouraged Obama to simply lean into the rebrand. > [](https://twitter.com/gregorybrothers/status/958526834618052609) > [](https://twitter.com/gregorybrothers/status/958526957100126208) And another user nominated “Opamacare” to dethrone the [midnight Trump tweet that gave the Internet “covfefe](http://time.com/4799053/donald-trump-covfefe-twitter/).” > [](https://twitter.com/lindsey%5Falexis%5F/status/958526436549320709) The Obamacare/Opamacare issue wasn’t the only fodder the speech provided. The soundtrack of the evening — the President’s clapping — [also got the meme treatment](http://time.com/5126189/donald-trump-state-union-clapping/). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5126652/trump-state-of-the-union-opamacare/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5126652/trump-state-of-the-union-opamacare/"},"headline":"The Internet Is Convinced Trump Said 'Opamacare' in His State of the Union Speech","datePublished":"2018-01-31T13:57:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:50:14.421Z","description":"The President's clapping also got the meme treatment","url":"https://time.com/5126652/trump-state-of-the-union-opamacare/","keywords":["Newsfeed","politics","viral","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta4209cdad935747a/6988fa12bc6cfcfc673e4d35/gettyimages-912432270.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/blta4209cdad935747a/6988fa12bc6cfcfc673e4d35/gettyimages-912432270.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. President Donald J. 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