Few ingredients are more versatile than the basic, beautiful egg. This versatility helps explain why sharply higher egg prices have caused such an uproar.
Due to mutating bird flu, egg prices hit historic highs this year—wholesale prices reached $8 a dozen in February—unleashing a wave of media coverage. NYC bodegas breaking up cartons and selling singles. Costco members rushing to hoard. Chicken rental becoming a thing. In my longish lifetime, perhaps only high gas prices have set off similar panics.
Some coverage has focused on the political implications, summarized by CNN: “Trump pledged to bring down food prices on Day One. Instead, eggs are getting more expensive.” Trump’s ludicrous campaign promise that he could wave a hand and magically disappear inflation broke immediately on the hard reality that presidents (even extra special ones!) have limited control over prices. There is an added irony in Trump having to contend, as did Biden, with being blamed for inflation set off by a virus.
No better summary of this political irony exists, however, than that provided by a meme as versatile as the egg itself: “Trump take egg.”
The magic of the meme
The meme derives much of its power from the magical thinking Trump fosters in voters through his outlandish claims of omnipotence. Trump’s inability to control the cost of the most basic, humble, dependable grocery then is laughable. His power is turned on itself: he can’t make inflation disappear, but can make eggs do so. Like a flim-flam man accidentally victim of his own trick, “Trump take egg.”
It serves as a reminder of that false promise and of the transparency of his scamming, seen in this interview clip, wherein Trump appears to be surprised by the existence of “groceries.”
With eggs returning to shelves and wholesale prices coming down, some may put the egg meme on the shelf—but there are good reasons to keep it going.
Repetition, repetition, repetition
Something MAGA gets about messaging that the Democrats often fail at is simple repetition. This may be because the Dems prefer facts, which can change. (Egg prices are improving, so the meme no longer works.) Dems prefer nuance. (This means complexity—full sentences with ifs, ands, and buts.) Dems prefer novel ideas. (Repeating the same old, same old is a GOP thing.) But repetition works: Ask any teacher or any marketer.
Memes provide repetition—and remain relevant if versatile. “Trump take egg,” which originated with Michael Tae Sweeney, quickly evolved. “Trump take nest egg” was a natural when the stock market plunged this month as a result of tariff threats and DOGE chaos battering 401Ks. The meme allows the benefit of repetition despite the administration “flood[ing] the zone with shit.”
Fighting absurdity with absurdity
As Tim Marcin noted in Mashable, the syntax of “Trump take egg” makes it absurdly funny. In this dark moment, with much at stake, the well-informed are fearful of and angry about the destruction Trump 2.0 is wreaking, but that doesn’t mean humor can’t be effective—especially at engaging the under- or misinformed.
While MAGA understands the power of the silly and absurd to attract attention and Trump understands the power of humor to bind, their opponents can suffer from being too serious, even in this deadly serious moment. ( 🙋♀️ ). Remember that the Harris/Walz ticket gained early momentum in part based on the joy of her laughter and his quips about Trump and Vance being “weird” and not like us.
Trump’s inarticulateness is easily mocked. But he gets the power of particular, singular words, “the best words”—syntax be damned.
Behold the power of the egg
An oddly powerful word is “egg.” The eggs we eat are versatile, simple, and usually affordable, making them comfort food, especially in the US. When egg prices go up, it doesn’t just hit budgets. Trump taking egg takes comfort.
Eggs are wholesome and nutritious. They evoke sunny images of farms and ranches like the ones that have been providing food to local schools and food pantries via a USDA program that Trump, Musk & Co. just eliminated.
For food to be healthy, it has to be safe. The reason for rising egg prices—bird flu infecting flocks—is a reminder of the need for strong regulations and oversight of the food industry, something endangered by new cuts at the already underfunded FDA. Trump taking egg takes health and safety.
I mentioned the stock market earlier, but most Americans’ nest egg is Social Security. Like farmers put eggs in nests to get hens to lay more, workers’ dollars go into Social Security over their lifetime for investment. Four of ten older Americans, and many with disabilities, need its checks to survive.
Workers and their families now worry what they put into Social Security won’t come back to them when they need it most. Musk smeared Social Security as a Ponzi scheme and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested cutting off checks to see who complains. They’re creating havoc and fear. Sen. Angus King explained, “What’s going on is the destruction of the agency from the inside out, and it’s accelerating.” Trump taking egg takes security.
The egg symbolizes in many traditions the womb, birth, and life. The assault on reproductive rights has been obscured by the White House’s multiple-vortex chaos but not stopped. Just this week, the administration said it would be freezing family-planning grants, including funds for Planned Parenthood.
Based on Project 2025, the administration’s user guide, we can expect more. Project 2025 calls for outlawing abortion medication, restricting abortion access and care, and spreading reproductive health disinformation—all of which makes it harder for Americans to control their own bodies, lives, and futures. Trump taking egg takes freedom.
The egg has also symbolized purity and innocence. So of course, Trump has to take that, too, corrupting the 147-year-old tradition of the White House Easter Egg Roll by offering event sponsorships to corporations. No, really.
Eggs are as fragile as our democracy, checks and balances, and the rule of law appear to be. And in the White House sits a man who is taking and breaking them. But eggs also symbolize hope and resurrection. Every act of resistance, however small, is giving me hope right now. Egg give hope.
In other words, the meme is about eggs, but it’s not about eggs. It’s about Trump’s versatility and speed in taking, taking, and taking in so many ways that affect so many of us—and about fighting back. Let’s keep this meme and its messages rolling.