# What's up with Trump's presidential seal? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 25, 2019, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-trumps-presidential-seal/837592 "2019-07-25T04:17:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-trumps-presidential-seal/837592/1 "2019-07-25T04:17:58Z")
[WTF?](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/07/25/how-did-trump-end-up-front-presidential-seal-doctored-include-russian-symbol/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.58880193b191) The story is starting to spread over the intarwebz: > **[Trump stands before presidential seal doctored with symbols of Russia and golf](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/24/trump-presidential-seal-doctored-russia-golf-turning-point)** > > Creator of image hails conservative organization staffer said to have used illustration in error > **[Trump stood in front of a fake presidential seal that poked fun at his golf...](https://www.rawstory.com/2019/07/trump-stood-behind-a-fake-presidential-seal-that-poked-fun-at-his-golf-habit-during-conservative-event/)** > > President Donald Trump spoke to the young conservatives at the Turning Point USA conference this week, hours before he agreed to a budget deal that would increase the national debt and balloon spending.Turning Point USA touts itself as a fiscally... Did someone fucking troll him at his own event? (That would be fucking fantastic and what I’m thinking happened!) Or did Trump (or Team Trump) do this? Is it hilarious or nefarious? ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-trumps-presidential-seal/837592/2 "2019-07-25T04:24:50Z")
It is certainly hilarious. But it could _also_ be nefarious. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-trumps-presidential-seal/837592/3 "2019-07-25T05:44:14Z")
My guess is incompetence. Like, someone did a half-assed Google image search for a presidential seal, saw that, and didn’t notice anything wrong with it. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-trumps-presidential-seal/837592/4 "2019-07-25T12:54:49Z")
That is beautiful! “Mad props”, or whatever the kids say. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-trumps-presidential-seal/837592/5 "2019-07-25T13:02:16Z")
Apparently, the banner reads, “45 is a puppet”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-trumps-presidential-seal/837592/6 "2019-07-25T13:05:05Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Apparently, the banner reads, “45 is a puppet”. 😃 Great. Now we’re going to have to watch Trump telling the seal that it’s the puppet. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-trumps-presidential-seal/837592/7 "2019-07-25T13:22:32Z")
Trump got trolled! Love the golf clubs. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-trumps-presidential-seal/837592/8 "2019-07-25T14:25:29Z")
This is awesome. I remember during the beginning of the end for the Milosevic regime, there were these stickers that said “he’s finished” that started popping up everywhere, including on a podium from which he was speaking. Any time you make a authoritarian look ridiculous, you have wounded him. I bet the piece of shit is tweeting about this by the end of the day. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-trumps-presidential-seal/837592/9 "2019-07-25T14:39:14Z")
Make America Goofy Again. I could get behind that. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-trumps-presidential-seal/837592/10 "2019-07-25T14:47:19Z")
Realistically, it should have been a single golf club. The bundle of arrows is meant to symbolize the strength of unity and alliances, which is antithetical to Trump’s view of the world. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-trumps-presidential-seal/837592/11 "2019-07-25T15:26:24Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Realistically, it should have been a single golf club. The bundle of arrows is meant to symbolize the strength of unity and alliances, which is antithetical to Trump’s view of the world. Similarly, “E Pluribus Unum” should have been changed to “E Unus Unum, quod magnissimus” (“out of one, just one, but the greatest”) ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-trumps-presidential-seal/837592/12 "2019-07-25T15:30:41Z")
Gah, rusty-ass Latin. “but” is sed, not quod. But quod works even better : “Out of one, just one, who’s the greatest”. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-trumps-presidential-seal/837592/13 "2019-07-25T17:28:52Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Realistically, it should have been a single golf club. The bundle of arrows is meant to symbolize the strength of unity and alliances, which is antithetical to Trump’s view of the world. Yeah but on the Treagle (Trump-Eagle, copyright 2019) it just represents a shit ton of golf. I love the Richard Painter quote: _“You should have control over what the private group is doing, what they’re putting on the screen and anything else,” said Painter, now a law professor at the University of Minnesota. “To let someone project something on the screen that isn’t controlled by the White House is pretty stupid.”_ Basically it’s a perfect storm of incompetence and possible trolling. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-trumps-presidential-seal/837592/14 "2019-07-25T17:30:05Z")
The only way to deal with true horror is to laugh at it. That this prank is so disrespectful of the office, and yet elicits laughter first and foremost, is a good indicator of just how dire the situation is in DC. And by DC I mean the rest of the USA. And the world. But it’s good to know there is a resistance close to President Trump, and that they still have spirit. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-trumps-presidential-seal/837592/15 "2019-07-25T17:37:35Z")
“Disrespectful of the office” Are we still doing “respect to the office of the Presidency?” I thought that went out the window when the electorate gave it to the America-hating fuckstick. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-trumps-presidential-seal/837592/16 "2019-07-25T17:42:09Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Yeah but on the Treagle (Trump-Eagle, copyright 2019) Rhymes with “Smeagol”. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-trumps-presidential-seal/837592/17 "2019-07-25T17:42:39Z")
Trump releases statment: “I don’t know why everyone keeps talking about a seal–that was obviously a bird.” ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-trumps-presidential-seal/837592/18 "2019-07-25T17:47:19Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Rhymes with “Smeagol”. I don’t see why it should. The guy’s name was Sméagol. The diacritical ought to preclude the “SMEE-gol” pronunciation right off the bat. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-trumps-presidential-seal/837592/19 "2019-07-25T17:54:46Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > “Disrespectful of the office” > > Are we still doing “respect to the office of the Presidency?” I thought that went out the window when the electorate gave it to the America-hating fuckstick. I’ll admit that’s a good point. But the optimist in me considers President Trump to be USA’s last warning to take itself seriously. I hope we do wake up. It seems so much easier to rebuild a government that has worked in the past than to watch The Union dissolve and start from scratch. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-trumps-presidential-seal/837592/20 "2019-07-25T18:15:09Z")
[Turning Point USA aide fired for projecting fake presidential seal with Russian symbol behind Trump](https://theweek.com/speedreads/854996/turning-point-usa-aide-fired-projecting-fake-presidential-seal-russian-symbol-behind-trump) > [@](#): > > A source with the group also told CNN, though, that they think it was not intentional but that the person simply did a Google search for the real presidential seal and “with the pressure of the event, didn’t notice that it is a doctored seal.” The source also apologized and said “we’re sorry for the mix-up and meant no disrespect to the White House or the president or the advance team.” So, it looks like incompetence or they’re trying to save face that they’re not a hacking victim, especially now that election hacking is back in the news. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-trumps-presidential-seal/837592.md?page=2)