How Trump's encounter with a glowing orb set social media alight

 

Images of US President Donald Trump placing his hands on a glowing orb has set alight the internet, prompting comparisons to science fiction and fantasy villains.

The pictures were taken while Trump – on a nine-day trip to the Middle East and Europe – along with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi visited a new Saudi centre for combating extremism.

Saudi King presents Trump with top civilian honour

Dogged by controversy at home, Donald Trump opened his first presidential foreign trip in Saudi Arabia on Saturday

A glance at Trump family’s visit to Saudi Arabia

The US president during his trip was accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump and daughter Ivanka Trump

The trio placed their hands on the orb to formally open the centre and set a welcome film in motion. Social media users were swift to let their imaginations run wild.

"Oh my god. Trump has obtained the Bajoran Orb of Time," tweeted games developer and US congressional candidate Brianna Wu, in a reference to a mythical object from the Star Trek universe.

"I am gone from Twitter for like a few hours, and now Trump is a holding a Palantír!" Twitter user chrisError wrote, a reference to one of the magical crystal balls used by characters in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings" series, notably the evil wizard Saruman, to see across time and space.

Many users also referenced Hydra, the fictional villains in several Marvel comics properties, with some posting pictures of the event along with the group's catchphrase, "Hail Hydra".

Trump son-in-law Kushner a focus in Russia probe: US media

The activities of President Donald Trump´s son-in-law and senior aide Jared Kushner have come under FBI scrutiny as part of the probe of Russian interference in last year´s presidential election

Some hilariously hinted at time travel.

A few talked about how 'The Orb' changed Trump.

Illuminati references popped up.

Harry Potter was mentioned

Others took a different approach to poking fun at the US president. The Church of Satan posted a picture of the event on its official Twitter account with the comment, "For clarification, this is not a satanic ritual".

Trump, a famously prolific user of Twitter, has thus far not made reference to the activity on his personal or official Twitter accounts.

While one question remains...

...this seems to be a good idea.