It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s President Trump’s absurdly tiny desk.
The leader of the free world sat behind what appeared to be a wooden end table of some sort on Thursday, the first time he took questions from reporters since losing the presidential election. At the diminutive table, Trump conducted a video call with troops for Thanksgiving and responded to reporters’ questions about his baseless allegations of election fraud. At one point, Trump snapped at a Reuters White House correspondent, calling him a “lightweight” and saying “don’t talk to me that way” in a moment of pique.
Advertisement
But the internet was all about the desk.
The smooth brown tabletop, four shortish legs, and giant presidential seal barely contained Trump’s 6-foot, 3-inch frame in front of a gaggle of journalists. That, coupled with the strangely unkempt green shag carpet, giant microphone stand, and an untrimmed Christmas tree, made for an odd tableau. Social media likened the scene to a tantrum at the kids’ table at Thanksgiving. #DiaperDon soon began trending on Twitter.
Trump jabbed back at the platform, tweeting that Twitter was “sending out totally false ‘Trends’ that have absolutely nothing to do with what is really trending in the world.”
Here’s what people online had to say about the scene:
The most popular joke was the most obvious. The desk seemed very, very small, which struck many as funny.
When they sit you at the children’s table for Thanksgiving. #DiaperDon pic.twitter.com/tltMv27Q7l
— Richard Hine (@richardhine) November 27, 2020
Trump’s next appearance should be at one of those elementary school chairs that are attached to half a desk https://t.co/OI97JDmHuc
— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) November 27, 2020
I see no difference #tinydesk pic.twitter.com/6mRpPaIzaB
— morgan mayes (@Morgan_Mayes) November 27, 2020
Fisher Price Little President Set, available now at Argos, £12.99.#DiaperDon pic.twitter.com/g0JlhPyc2c
— Paul Carnahan (@pacarnahan) November 27, 2020
Trump: it’s a normal size desk?
— Michael Tannenbaum (@iamTannenbaum) November 27, 2020
desk guy (barely keeping it together): yea pic.twitter.com/eatmbEkiyu
I like to think that during Trump’s presidency, some hero in the White House has slowly swapped Trump’s desk for a slightly smaller one, day by day, so he wouldn’t notice, till four years later we get to this majestic picture. #DiaperDon pic.twitter.com/UUe8dfx0SD
— Tryph (@bigrooster81) November 27, 2020
Who did this? pic.twitter.com/gHN0qMBUcA
— Jennifer Harris (@jwharris) November 27, 2020
Trump: “Find me a desk that makes my hands look normal sized.”
— NotARaja (@NotARaja) November 27, 2020
Staffer: pic.twitter.com/3zTII7IlFa
— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) November 27, 2020
Others likened Thursday’s Trump trend to an old “Saturday Night Live” sketch where Alec Baldwin as Trump played with a toy at a child’s desk while chatting with Steve Bannon (the Grim Reaper).
Trump at his mini Resolute Desk reminds me of this old SNL skit 😂 pic.twitter.com/2H6vCjiI2W
— Fresh Mouthed Marie pays her taxes 😘 (@FreshMouthed) November 27, 2020
Some compared the situation to the Four Seasons Landscaping snafu early this month, when the president’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani hosted a press conference outside a warehouse instead of at the Four Seasons luxury hotel.
Advertisement
I have to think the same staffer behind the Four Seasons Total Landscaping debacle is the same one who convinced him this is a good look #DiaperDon pic.twitter.com/0Co6Hhzzmi
— Aye Aye CAPT 🇱🇷 (@AyeAye_CAPT) November 27, 2020
I want to salute the dark, subtle genius, quietly at work in the White House staff, who managed to move Rudy Giuliani's press conference to a run down garden centre, and to seat Donald Trump himself at that tiny, tiny desk.
— Manny Neira (@manny_neira) November 27, 2020
Be safe. The world needs your art.#DiaperDon pic.twitter.com/xALQUblaX6
A few took the shrunken furniture as a symbol of Trump’s diminishing status as President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration inches closer day-by-day.
May this be how we remember the Trump presidency: a baby at his tiny little desk throwing a tantrum pic.twitter.com/T26DjF1fL4
— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) November 27, 2020
Thought this pic was photoshopped, but nope, just hilariously symbolic!
— Adam Lasnik (@thatadamguy) November 27, 2020
Mini desk. Tiny hands. Infinitesimally small soul. https://t.co/7cxumf1MFN
Some noted that it was as though Trump scored his own Tiny Desk Concert, a popular segment on NPR, joining artists like Billie Eilish, Alicia Keys, and Tyler the Creator who have jammed in the public radio studio before.
I wasn’t expecting Donald Trump to have his own Tiny Desk Concert #DiaperDon pic.twitter.com/xXVFisEdqP
— Jared 📷 (@HeWent_2Jared) November 27, 2020
One Twitter user offered up an explanation as to why the desk was so small, which made a lot of sense.
Here’s the thing about the small desk Trump is sitting at. It’s like... a bill-signing desk. It’s meant to have a dozen or so people around it. I think it might be small so that more people can cram in for a photo op.
— Trending in the United States (@Mantia) November 27, 2020
It is not intended to be a desk you sit at alone. pic.twitter.com/LOc0M1bImE
Diti Kohli can be reached at diti.kohli@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ditikohli_.
Diti Kohli can be reached at diti.kohli@globe.com.Follow her on Twitter @ditikohli_.