On Monday, President Donald Trump met with the president of Panama , Juan Carlos Varela, at the White House. During their meeting, the two world leaders discussed important international topics such as, uh, the Panama Canal.
“The Panama Canal is doing quite well,” Trump said during a photo opportunity with Varela. “I think we did a good job building it, right?”
We did a great job bulldog the Panama Canal. Didn’t we?”
“Yes, 100 years ago.” President Varela with shade!! pic.twitter.com/KViveiyul2
— Dana Resigns (@frreigns) June 19, 2017
To which Varela immediately responded, “Yeah. One hundred years ago.”
Yet, Varela’s shade didn’t even register with Trump, who then said,
“We did a very good job.”
Trump tries to take credit for doing a “good job” w the Panama Canal…
…the President of Panama reminds him it was built 100 years ago 😂 pic.twitter.com/wGGYly1gou
— William LeGate (@williamlegate) June 19, 2017
Naturally, no one really knows why Trump made that statement.
Oh, dear God.
Trump is meeting with Panama’s leader at WH.
“The Panama Canal is doing quite well. We did a good job building it, right?”
🙄🙄🙄
— Holly O’Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) June 19, 2017
As usual, Twitter has its theories.
For instance, some think that it’s just Trump, in typical Trump fashion, taking credit for something he didn’t actually do.
I can’t believe Donald Trump took credit for the Panama Canal like Frederick Douglass wasn’t out there with a shovel every day.
— Settle In, Babies (@alexandraerin) June 19, 2017
I only got a 3 on the AP US History exam because I missed the “Trump built the Panama Canal” question.
— Marie Connor (@thistallawkgirl) June 19, 2017
Did trump just take credit for the Panama Canal? Does he know when it was built? Maybe he thinks Frederick Douglas was the head engineer.
— Kevin Lankes (@KevinLankes) June 19, 2017
Trump just took credit for building the Panama Canal.
Now he’s pissed off the ghost of Teddy Roosevelt.
— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) June 19, 2017
‘The Panama Canal had a very limited role in the campaign’ ~ Sean Spicer, probably.
— Tami (@tamiappleseed) June 19, 2017
While others think he was just poorly prepared for the meeting.
Imagine being so ill-prepared to meet a world leader that what you talk about is the freaking Panama Canal. pic.twitter.com/h7ycSt5obH
— Erick Fernandez (@ErickFernandez) June 19, 2017
When there’s a pop quiz and you didn’t do the reading.
— Rob Tannenbaum (@tannenbaumr) June 19, 2017
There’s also a fair amount of people who think Trump was simply playing word association and said the first thing that came to his head when he thought of the word “Panama”:
he just says things. he says the first thing that enters his head. panama.... canal. we’re lucky he didn’t say “and their hats are great”
— libby watson 🥞 (@libbycwatson) June 19, 2017
And, of course, there were a few folks who just wanted to make a solid Trump joke.
The Panama Canal is being recognized more and more.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 19, 2017
Getting tricky: How do I mix in Bowling Green, Frederick Douglass, Andrew Jackson, Panama Canal & Lincoln’s GOP status into a tweet?
— John Weaver (@JWGOP) June 19, 2017
We did a great job building the Panama Canal. And I’d also like to congratulate Thomas Edison for the incredible work he’s doing!
— Donald J. Drumpf (@RealDonalDrumpf) June 19, 2017
The Panama Canal was a winning issue for Ronald Reagan
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) June 19, 2017
Panama Canal Built:
1 month into WW1
5 years before Prohibition
5 years before women could vote
But in Trumps brain... pic.twitter.com/0dNvzxr1cc
— Baseball (@baseballminutia) June 19, 2017
In response to the Bowling Green Massacre, President Andrew Jackson hired Donald Trump to build the Panama Canal to keep out the Australians
— Marie Connor (@thistallawkgirl) June 19, 2017
I would donate $5000 to Trump’s reelection campaign if he could point to a spot within 1000 miles of the Panama Canal on a map.
— Ken Tremendous (@KenTremendous) June 19, 2017
Look on the bright side about Trump’s Panama Canal comments. It means he’s finally being president at a 4th grade level!
— Funny Or Die (@funnyordie) June 19, 2017
Yet, why Trump said what he said — much like most of the things that fly out of his mouth — will most likely remain a mystery.
Sometimes I think Trump says all this incredibly ignorant stuff on purpose, so the "mainstream media" and the "leftist elites" will criticize and mock him, and then he can run back to his "base" and say "see how much they hate you" .
It is a co-dependency thing between him and the idiots , racists and religious zealots that support him.
I heard this last night and cringed at the stupidity coming from our President*s mouth. No different than any other day, I suppose.
Well now in all fairness building the Panama Canal was one of his major campaign promises and having completed so fast I think it's unfair not to give him the credit he is due. I also think portends well for the building of the 13,000 mile plus wall he plans on building in China to practice for the Mexico wall (and make China pay for it) and the pyramids that Egypt has asked hm for.