The internet has made hay with images of the US president looking up at the sky during the solar eclipse without glasses, despite repeated warnings that doing so can lead to permanent eye damage.
Donald Trump was filmed on the balcony of the White House, standing with his wife Melania Trump and his son Barron. Before donning special eclipse glasses he squinted up at the sky and pointed. An aide was apparently heard off camera shouting “Don’t look!”.
As he did this, someone in a crowd of aides below shouted "Don't look." pic.twitter.com/dtfSLEzcAZ
— Ted Mann (@TMannWSJ) August 21, 2017
But it was too late, the moment of misjudgement was captured and quickly shared online. Naturally it made it onto the front page of the New York Daily News.
For those who weren't blinded by #Eclipse2017 we have an early look at tomorrow's @NYDailyNews front page. pic.twitter.com/3SvN7D8Itd
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) August 21, 2017
On Twitter, the jokes were abundant.
Scientists: Climate change is real.
— David Schneider (@davidschneider) August 21, 2017
Trump: Climate change is a hoax!
Scientists: Don't look at the sun during #SolarEclispe2017
Trump: pic.twitter.com/uvGSsyJEUo
i want someone to look at me the way Trump looks at the eclipse pic.twitter.com/15pfqYpkFy
— oneyun da prophet (@oneyun) August 21, 2017
“The big yellow one’s the sun!” pic.twitter.com/pVzKgNpAQY
— Quinn Sutherland (@ReelQuinn) August 21, 2017
In this moment, he became president pic.twitter.com/mQNrG7LlsP
— Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) August 21, 2017
Scientists: Don't look straight at sun during eclipse.
— Dan Worthington (@danWorthington) August 21, 2017
Trump: Hold my glasses. pic.twitter.com/3MySTJYq4d
You're fake news. pic.twitter.com/qa6cO2M4Ld
— Patrick Tucker (@DefTechPat) August 21, 2017
can't see your approval rating if you can't see at all pic.twitter.com/UPPLeseFBR
— Adam Moussa (@adamjmoussa) August 21, 2017
However, not everyone was laughing. Fox news anchor Tucker Carlson was impressed by Trump’s actions, saying that it was “perhaps the most impressive thing any president has ever done.”