DO NOT CONGRATULATE

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About

DO NOT CONGRATULATE is a direct quote from a briefing given to Donald Trump by his national security advisors before his call to Vladimir Putin advising him to not congratulate Putin on his recent victory in the controversial election in Mach 2018. President Trump congratulated Russian President Putin's victory during the call. The brief was subsequently leaked to The Washington Post and made national news, inspiring several memes about Trump disregarding a plea, emphasized in all-capital letters, from the senior executives of his office.

Origin

On March 20th, 2018, President Donald Trump told members of the press that he spoke with Vladimir Putin and congratulated him on his electoral victory. This comment drew criticism from high-profile politicians including Senator John McCain,^[1] who stated:

"An American president does not lead the free world by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections and by doing so with Vladimir Putin, President Trump insulted every Russian citizen who was denied the right to vote in a free and fair election to determine their country's future, including the countless Russian patriots who have risked so much to protest and resist Putin's regime.

While the news about Trump congratulating Putin made headlines, The Washington Post^[2] reported later that day that his written briefing before the Putin call featured the instruction "DO NOT CONGRATULATE" in all capital letters, which Trump ignored. It was unclear if he read the briefing. Trump and the White House was reported as "furious" over the leak.^[6]

Spread

The news prompted commentary from several political media outlets including CNN,^[3] The Guardian,^[4] and NBC News.^[5] According to a White House Official, if the leak is accurate, it would constitute a fireable offense and likely an illegal one.

Meanwhile, social media users mocked the moment with jokes pairing the phrase "DO NOT CONGRATULATE" with various images. For example, a tweet by @Rschooley parodied the film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri with the phrase, gaining over 420 retweets and 2,300 likes (shown below, left). A post featuring a dog by @themaxburns gained over gained over 2,000 retweets and 9,000 likes (shown below, right).

Jokes about the moment were covered by The Daily Dot,^[7] Mashable,^[8] and Huffington Post.^[9]