On a chaotic Friday afternoon, President Trump welcomed the secretary general of the United Nations to the White House. Shortly after the meeting, Trump tweeted about the meeting from his personal Twitter account, offering the highest praise possible: Secretary-General António Guterres was going to “make the United Nations great again.”
It’s been a banner week for making things great again — or at least for pledging one’s intention to make things great again.
On Tuesday, Oregon gubernatorial candidate Sam Carpenter hoped to ride a variant on Trump’s famous catchphrase — Make Oregon great again! — to victory in the Republican primary. He came in second.
In Canada, supporters of Doug Ford — brother of infamous Toronto politician Rob Ford — began using the hashtag #MOGA on Twitter, short for “make Ontario great again.” Asked by the CBC to weigh in on the tagline, Ford gave an effusive endorsement: “That’s funny.”
Since Trump launched his candidacy in June 2015, there have been a lot of candidates, political groups and organizations that have declared their intent to make things great again. We plotted several dozen on the map below.
Some of our favorites:
As it turns out, though, pledges to make particular geographic areas great again are only a fraction of the real mother lode for MAGA-style catchphrases. The fertile soil is found in a search of trademark applications.
All of the following are active or former M_GA slogans, with a trademark granted for the word or phrase preceded by “MAKE” and followed by “GREAT AGAIN.” (The grayed-out words and phrases are dead trademarks, so snatch them up.)
COLONOSCOPY – NORTH KOREA – AMERICA – INSURANCE – IDEALISM – SPINES – PIVOTS – SEX – FASCIA – CURIOSITY – ROCKPORT – MASSAGE – THE DEMOCRATS – ARCHITECTURE – SIDEWALKS – THE TRADES – SAN JUAN – CHRISTMAS – VINCE – MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES – AMERICA NOT – SHOES – WILLINGNESS TO TAKE CHANCES – CARPET – CAPISTRANO – LOVE – COFFEE – FREIGHT – CHURCH – GOLF – YOUR RETIREMENT – BEER – RADIO – RETIREMENT – BUYING CARS – HUNTING – CUBA – GUNS – OUR PLANET – SCHOOL – INDIVIDUALISM – ZOMBIES – THE OILFIELD – YOUR PET – DEVOTION TO GOALS
INDIE FILM – THE MIDDLE CLASS – AFRICA – DEER BREEDING – HIPHOP – THE PRESIDENCY – DENTISTRY – EARTH – PORT ARANSAS – DOGS – OUTGOINGNESS – FAMILY – YOUR HAIR – IMAGINATION – COURAGE – MISSOURI – PLUMBING – ENTHUSIASM – KOREA – DRILLING – OPTIMISM – AGGIE FOOTBALL – HILLARY – AMERICA SHOOT – ARMENIA – PINBALL – PALLETS – PATIENCE – HARLEM – YOUR AR – RODEO – THE OCEAN – AMERIKKKA – THE PISTONS – NASA – ALLAH – BATH TIME – CONSTRUCTION – BEES – EDUCATION – THE DELTA – DEM DEMS – STORMY – AMERICAN AIR TRAVEL – HONESTY – PERCEPTION – SOCIAL MEDIA – ILLINOIS – GENIUS – ST. LOUIS – OAKLAND – AMERICAN STEAK – OIL & GAS – MONTAUK LESS – ASTROLOGY – MIAMI – SILAGE – TRUTH – YOUR BED FEEL – TRUMP LESS – KNOWLEDGE – PERCOLATORS – ABILITY TO JUDGE – AMERICAN MUSIC – PLYWOOD
LIBERTY – BLACK – SENSE OF HUMOR – TEDDY BEARS – THE JETS – DYNAMIC ENERGY – FISHING – YOUR HEALTHCARE – VERSATILITY – YOUR TEETH – THE DEMS – YOUR ENGINE – DRIVE – HOUSTON – PORT A – ROOFS – PIPELINING – BASKETBALL – YOUR VEHICLE – FRACING – PLAYING CARDS – MARKETING – CHRISTIANITY – CRAFTSMANSHIP – DEMOCRATS – BROOKLYN – TRUCKING – COUNTRY MUSIC – MADEIRA – TEETH – TENNIS – JERKY – PERFECTIONISM – OUR PRESIDENT – RUSSIA – PORTFOLIOS – CONGRESS – CURLS – OUR FORESTS – OUR DEMOCRACY – CALIFORNIA – KILLING – SLEEP – AMERICANS – HEMP – MY BODY – AMERICAN ROADS – MICHIGAN – P AMERICA – THE CONSTITUTION – REPUBLICANS – OREGON – CORPORATE AMERICA – GIVING – BUFFALO – REAL ESTATE – VODKA
(Want to make your own Trump hat? That’s why we made a Trump hat generator.)
How could you not be compelled by “MAKE YOUR TEETH GREAT AGAIN,” snatched up by a dentist in Westchester County, N.Y. If your teeth are currently not great but once were great and you would like to return them to that greatness — give him a call.
At least that one is straightforward. What does MAKE DYNAMIC ENERGY GREAT AGAIN mean, exactly? Why is it not currently great? Economic anxiety?
For that matter, what does “Make the United Nations great again” mean? Are we going to hand over some of the United States’ autonomy to the U.N.? Seems off-brand.
But if nothing else, it’s catchy. And for all of those looking to leverage an M_GA slogan for political success, rest assured that on at least one occasion, it worked.
