BBC Homepage
  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
  • Your account
  • Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • More menu
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
Close menu
BBC News
Menu
  • Home
  • InDepth
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • War in Ukraine
  • Climate
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Culture
More
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Health
  • Family & Education
  • In Pictures
  • Newsbeat
  • BBC Verify
  • Disability
  • BBC Trending

'Fire burn and cauldron bubble': Trump and the glowing orb

  • Published
    22 May 2017
Share page
About sharing
US President Donald J. Trump (R), US First Lady Melania Trump (R-2), King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia (C) and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (L) opening the World Center for Countering Extremist Thought in Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaImage source, European Photopress Agency
Image caption,

The sight of President Trump and his Saudi and Egyptian counterparts around a glowing orb has sparked online jokes

ByLamia Estatie
BBC News

An image of US President Donald Trump with his hands placed over a glowing white orb alongside Saudi King Salman and Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi is lighting up social media.

On Sunday, the leaders inaugurated a new centre in Riyadh aimed at combating extremist ideology. Mr Trump was on his first foreign visit to Saudi Arabia where he urged regional leaders to take the lead in rooting out radicalisation.

Trump has since arrived in Israel where he will be meeting Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

Trump urges Muslim leaders to lead fight against radicalisation

Trump in Saudi Arabia: US president joins ceremonial sword dance

Among the numerous photoshops and captions of the event shared online were the opening lyrics, external from The Song of the Witches in William Shakespeare's Macbeth.

Screen grab of tweet by @BillKristolImage source, Saudi Arabia TV/Twitter/@BillKristol

As President Trump's eyes were closed in the widely shared screen grab, one Twitter user guessed, external the president was making a wish.

"For clarification, this is not a Satanic ritual," tweeted, external the Church of Satan, an international religious movement based on LaVeyan Satanism.

Screen grab of tweet by @ChurchofSatanImage source, Saudi Arabia TV/Twitter/@ChurchofSatan

While comedian and actor Kumail Nanjiani joked the lit ball was the "Glowing Orb of Islamic Dominance", external, another Twitter user likened, external it to the Eye of Sauron from The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the next instalment of which "looks terrible," said, external musician Mikel Jollett.

Screen grab of tweet by @darthImage source, Saudi Arabia TV/Twitter/@darth

Scenes from the 1997 film Space Jam, external, Harry Potter, external and the 007, external film series were also referenced: "The point when the supervillains form a pact to take over the world."

Screen grab of tweet by @NickGreeneImage source, Saudi Arabia TV/Twitter/@NickGreene

You may also like:

  • 'Trump, servant of God': How Saudis are viewing his visit

  • Israeli minister's "Jerusalem dress" redesigned

  • ITV Leaders' debate: Paul, Leanne and... Natalie?

"Just some billionaires gathering in the dark and holding a glowing orb, probably fine," another user suggested, external.

One Twitter account shared, external a fake tweet by President Trump, which said: "Cyrus the Great was buried in a sceptre of tremendous power. I, king of the New World, command my people to find his tomb and recover his sceptre. None shall sleep until the sceptre is found!"

Naturally, there had to be a fabricated response, external from a Trump critic:

A fabricated tweet by Donald Trump, posted by Pixelated Boat, is met with a fabricated response from the ACLU, posted by reggiereggieImage source, Twitter

Despite the jokes, a supporter of President Trump who spent two years "working to defeat Hillary" said, external he preferred the orb to an image of Clinton altered to show her using the Sith power of force lightning from Star Wars.

By the UGC and Social News team

More on this story

  • Trump's visit galvanises Saudi tweeters

    • Published
      20 May 2017
    Photoshopped image of Donald Trump as a Saudi cleric
  • Trump abroad: What's on the agenda?

    • Published
      21 May 2017
    US President Donald Trump in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Photo: 21 May 2017
  • Trump to Muslims: Drive extremists out

    • Published
      22 May 2017
    Donald Trump speaking in Riyadh (21 May)

Top stories

  • Live. 

    FBI releases images of 'person of interest' and offers $100,000 reward for information in Charlie Kirk shooting

    • 85140 viewing85k viewing
  • A rooftop figure, gunfire, then panic - how Charlie Kirk shooting unfolded

    • Published
      7 hours ago
  • Starmer facing fresh questions after Mandelson sacking

    • Published
      53 minutes ago

More to explore

  • Rifle found but suspect still at large - what we know about Kirk shooting

    A tent bearing the slogan 'The American Comeback Tour' is cordoned off after commentator Charlie Kirk was fatally shot during an event at Utah Valley University
  • How Syria's dictatorship used a global child welfare charity to 'disappear' children

    Two little girls with dark hair and in pink and red t-shirts smile for the camera in a photo shown on a mobile phone. In the background are blurred photos of other children held in orphanages.
  • Feeling stressed? Here's five ways to manage it better

    Woman having headache and holding her head while sitting on the floor at home
  • TV cooking shows are dying out - this cronut* holds the secret to why (*croissant-donut)

    Iced cronut
  • 'A piece of me is gone' - ex-Liverpool defender Wisdom on being stabbed

    • Attribution
      Sport
    Andre Wisdom
  • Accidental or deliberate? Russia's drone incursion into Poland is a test for Nato

    Polish soldiers stand in front of a house destroyed with blown out roof
  • Harry's tea with Charles could be small but significant step to reconciliation

    Prince Harry - a slightly-balding man with red hair and a red beard waves as he steps into a dark coloured car. He wears a pale blue shirt and a navy blue suit, with a brown beaded bracelet.
  • 'I have rubbish in my hall six months into bin strike'

    Lorraine Boyce is an elderly woman. She is sitting in her lounge on a brown chair. We can see a bookcase behind her. There is a mug on the table next to her. She is wearing clear thin-rimmed glasses and a dark blue jumper.
  • 'Netanyahu, we're not leaving': Defiance in Gaza City as Israel shows aid sites planned for evacuees

    Lucy Williamson in Gaza wearing a helmet and protective equipment
loading elsewhere stories

Most read

  1. 1

    John Lewis losses nearly triple to £88m

  2. 2

    Farage faces questions over who funded £885,000 Clacton constituency home

  3. 3

    Brazil's former president Bolsonaro found guilty of plotting coup

  4. 4

    Starmer facing fresh questions after Mandelson sacking

  5. 5

    Starmer is losing senior figures at the rate of one a week

  6. 6

    Rifle found but suspect still at large - what we know about Kirk shooting

  7. 7

    Feeling stressed? Here's five ways to manage it better

  8. 8

    Kenneth Branagh returns to Royal Shakespeare Company

  9. 9

    Nato strengthens defences after Russian drones shot down over Poland

  10. 10

    Ireland threatens to withdraw from Eurovision if Israel participates

BBC News Services

  • On your mobile
  • On smart speakers
  • Get news alerts
  • Contact BBC News

Best of the BBC

  • Forensic journalism from all corners of the world

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Global Eye
  • How the double life of a predator was exposed

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Cracking the Case: The Predator Behind the Camera
  • The fascinating story of 1991 in music

    • Attribution
      BBC Two
    Top of the Pops: The Story of 1991
  • Play-Doh, free bread and peeing in the shower

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Unpopular Opinion: Olivia Colman & Benedict Cumberbatch
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Make an editorial complaint
  • BBC emails for you

Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.