Trump’s advisers told him “DO NOT CONGRATULATE” Putin — and he did anyway

President Trump ignoring an explicit warning from advisers on a tricky foreign policy topic is nothing new — but on Tuesday, Trump took it to a new level in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to the Washington Post, Trump either didn’t read or chose to ignore a section in his briefing materials that said, bluntly, “DO NOT CONGRATULATE” Putin on his election victory — and went ahead and did it immediately anyway:

It was not clear whether Trump read the notes, administration officials said. Trump, who initiated the call, opened it with the congratulations for Putin, one person familiar with the conversation said.

Trump defended his actions Wednesday afternoon in a tweet that lambasted the “Fake News Media” and concluded that “getting along with Russia (and others) is a good thing, not a bad thing.”

While it’s fairly routine for world leaders to congratulate one another on electoral victories, the news media is right to point out that the Russian election wasn’t exactly a shining example of democracy. Putin’s most prominent opponent wasn’t on the ballot, and the Associated Press reported on voting irregularities.

As Trump pointed out in his tweet, President Obama also congratulated Putin when he ran in a similarly unfair election in 2012, to a chorus of criticism from Republicans. Still, given that Trump’s relationship with Russia has been a source of skepticism throughout his tenure as president — and considering the ongoing investigation into potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia — the phone call is another reminder of the president’s friendly attitude toward Putin.

Trump later described the conversation — which spanned topics including arms control and security in North Korea and Syria, but not the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy and his daughter in Great Britain — as a “very good call,” according to the Post’s Carol D. Leonnig, David Nakamura, and Josh Dawsey.

Beyond Trump’s remarks to Putin, the Washington Post report shows leaks are still coming from the White House — in this case, a close adviser went behind the president’s back to talk to the press hours after he hung up the phone.

It suggests dysfunction so deep that advisers believe stirring up a controversy is potentially more effective at changing the president’s behavior than talking to him, as Nicolle Wallace, who served as White House communications director for President George W. Bush, suggested on Twitter (in conversation with another Bush official, Ari Fleischer):

Trump is reportedly furious about the leak and asking his outside advisers who they thought had leaked the information, according to CNN.

The Washington Post scoop inspired something of an internet moment, as dumbfounded Americans joked about a president who clearly does not know how to listen.

Twitter users wasted no time mocking the moment Tuesday night, comparing the call to other infamous scenarios of people not following advice or instructions.

Some tweets compared the call to the ubiquitous “bad pets” pictures — in which dogs and cats pose innocently with a mess they’ve created.

Others saw similarities to Vice President Mike Pence infamously touching an object with a “Do Not Touch” sign placed across it and Trump looking directly into the sun during the eclipse.

There was a callback to the Oscars in 2017:

A new hat for Trump:

And finally, it’s not a Trump-Russia story without a Simpsons reference.