How the world reacted to Trump’s speech

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The ‘Pelosi Clap’: U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, right, and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, left, applaud U.S. President Donald Trump during a State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019.

President Donald Trump’s 2019 State of the Union (SOTU) address got the world talking with social media reacting to key takeaways and memorable moments during the speech.

Trump announced a second North Korea summit at the end of February and re-affirmed his commitment to building a border wall. He also called for an end to investigations into his administration and for bipartisan cooperation.

Soon enough, Twitter was ablaze with comments about the SOTU. But, as ever, the public were quickly picking up on the minutiae, including the president’s “wildly crooked tie” and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s paper-shuffling.

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Trump also talked about the economic recovery taking place in the U.S., prompting various chants of “USA USA”, and said the only things that could stop it were “foolish wars, politics, or ridiculous partisan investigations.”

He wasn’t specific, but his words were taken to mean the inquiries launched by Democrats into the Trump administration and the ongoing investigation into Russian election meddling and possible collusion with the campaign, which both Russia and Trump deny.

That prompted a wry smile from Pelosi, who was sitting behind Trump and next to Vice President Mike Pence.

In fact, throughout the address, Pelosi’s facial expressions and reactions (which were, as Trump’s political rival, naturally negative ones) were widely seized upon by viewers. But it was her seemingly mocking applause at the end of Trump’s speech that prompted a Twitter storm, with the “Pelosi clap” quickly trending and becoming a meme.

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While many Twitter users loved Pelosi’s body language of barely contained disdain and disbelief at Trump’s claims, others tried to guess what she was reading when seen looking though various pieces of paper, which was criticized by some as disrespectful.

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Another moment that garnered international and social media attention was the cheering of Democratic congresswomen after Trump’s comments on female job creation.