These Photos Of EXO & Ivanka Trump Meeting Are Everything
Two very different worlds collided on the final day of the G20 Osaka Summit 2019, and you kind of have to see it to believe it. World famous K-Pop group EXO met with President Donald Trump and his daughter, Ivanka Trump, and the photos from the encounter are honestly everything. This photo of EXO meeting Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump after the G20 Summit is a major diplomatic (and fan) moment.
On June 29, 2019, President Donald Trump and his daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump were welcomed to South Korea by President Moon Jae-In, as well as some surprise guests. The South Korean and Chinese K-Pop group EXO also welcomed Trump and Ivanka during a cocktail reception before a dinner banquet, according to Korean pop culture website Soompi. The visit came after the president left the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, earlier in the day.
During the cocktail reception, EXO met with Trump, Ivanka, and Ivanka's husband Jared Kushner, and gifted the first family with some signed copies of their latest album, Love Shot. Even better? The moment was caught on video. Upon receiving the gift, Ivanka said, "Thank you so much, this is so nice of you" and then she remarked, "Oh and it's signed!" and Trump responded by thanking the group and telling them "nice job, fellas." According to The New York Post, Ivanka also called EXO's closing performance at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang "phenomenal."
Gloriously, the moment was caught on camera as well, showing the EXO members dressed to the nines to say hello to the American president.
Though she kept her voice calm and composed upon meeting EXO, Ivanka's face really said it all. I mean, check out these excitement levels:
Professionalism is great and all, but sometimes you just gotta fangirl out a little, you know? Whether or not you have a White House office.
When it comes to K-Pop, this definitely isn't Ivanka's first rodeo. Back in 2018, when Ivanka represented the US in South Korea for the Winter Olympics, she told President Moon Jae-In that her children became big K-Pop fans after she introduced them to the genre. She also shared that she and her kids have K-Pop dance parties and told the president that she plans to teach her kids Korean so that next time they all meet, her kids can sing to him and his wife in Korean. (Her oldest daughter, Arabella, already speaks some Mandarin Chinese.)
Twitter had mixed reactions about the Korean pop and American politics world coming together. Some people weren't fans of the meeting, like Twitter user @Tyche_Boys who wrote, "Trump don’t deserve exo."
Others, like Twitter user @netzonexo believed political opinions should be put aside when assessing this meeting and wrote, "Political opinions aside, Trump is undeniably South Korea’s honorable guest and President Moon brought forth their best as their representative - EXO Doesn’t this prove the status that EXO has established in the hearts of their nation? We believe this is something to be proud of."
Mostly, people were upset that Trump got to meet EXO and get EXO's signed album before they did which, TBH, is a totally fair response to this whole situation.
There were certainly other highlights to note from Trump's South Korea visit. Ahead of his trip to South Korea, for example, Trump issued a Twitter invitation to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un to meet him at the demilitarized zone and shake his hand. During his first night, he also had dinner at the Blue House, which is the office and residence of the South Korean president.
But at the end of the day, the main takeaway is that nothing brings two countries together like a little bit of K-Pop.
