Trump and Musk mock federal workers with SpongeBob SquarePants meme: 'Read some emails, cried some more'

WASHINGTON, DC: If there’s one thing Donald Trump and Elon Musk love to do, it’s trolling their enemies—and this time, they’re doing it with some high-quality memes.

SpongeBob SquarePants somehow just made his way into serious government business, but let’s just say not everyone is laughing. 

Donald Trump and Elon Musk embrace SpongeBob SquarePants

Donald Trump and Elon Musk teamed up over the weekend in their mission to trim down the federal workforce, but they also had a little fun while doing it.

The two powerhouses shared a hilarious (or brutal) meme mocking government employees after Trump ordered them to submit a report on what they actually accomplished last week.

The meme featured a to-do list titled "Got Done Last Week" with five snarky bullet points:

— "Cried about Trump."

— "Cried about Elon."

— "Made it into the office for once."

— "Read some emails."

— "Cried about Trump and Elon some more."

Musk was the first to drop the SpongeBob-inspired burn on X (formerly) around 9:15 am on Sunday, February 23.

Trump wasted no time reposting it to Truth Social. By Tuesday morning, Musk’s post had racked up more than 40 million views, along with 471,000 likes, 52,000 reposts, and 19,000 comments.

Outrage as Donald Trump and Elon Musk turn up the heat

Of course, the aforementioned meme wasn’t just for laughs. Elon Musk made it very clear that the government was about to get a major shakeup under Donald Trump’s leadership.

The tech billionaire made a bombshell announcement a day before posting the meme. "Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation," he wrote.

This move is part of Musk and Trump’s joint effort to expose what they call waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government. 

"A large number of good responses have been received already. These are the people who should be considered for promotion," Musk posted on X.

But while Musk and Trump are on a mission to clean house, not everyone is thrilled with their methods. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) was among the first to slam the move, calling it "absurd."

"Our public workforce deserves to be treated with dignity and respect for the unheralded jobs they perform. The absurd weekend email to justify their existence wasn’t it," she wrote on X.

Then came Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn), who called out Musk directly. "This is the ultimate d**k boss move from Musk – except he isn’t even the boss, he’s just a d**k," she posted.

Musk clapped back at Smith with a savage reply, "What did you get done last week?"

Meanwhile, government agencies weren’t exactly rushing to comply with the new directive. The Department of Defense issued a memo instructing employees to "pause any response to the OPM email titled ‘What did you do last week,’" while the Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard echoed the same warning to their employees.

"Given the inherently sensitive and classified nature of our work, IC employees should not respond to the OPM email," Gabbard told workers, according to the New York Times.

Donald Trump wants Elon Musk to go harder 

Elon Musk isn’t just poking around for fun. Donald Trump has officially put him in charge of a brand-new government agency, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Since taking office last month, the president has handed Musk the keys to one of the most aggressive overhauls of the federal workforce in history.

DOGE has been slashing thousands of government jobs, dismantling federal programs, and ordering agencies to find employees who can be laid off.

And while some critics think Musk is already being ruthless, Trump wants even more. "Elon is doing a great job, but I would like to see him get more aggressive. Remember, we have a country to save, but ultimately, to make greater than ever before. MAGA," Trump declared on Truth Social.

And if government workers were hoping the courts would save them—not so fast.

A labor union tried to halt Trump’s mass firings, but a judge rejected the request last week. That means Musk and Trump are full steam ahead on their plan to "drain the swamp"—or at least the parts they consider wasteful.