The 'DO NOT CONGRATULATE' meme originated from a high-profile leak in March 2018 involving briefing notes prepared for President Donald Trump. His national security advisors had written the phrase in all-caps to explicitly warn him against offering congratulations to Vladimir Putin following a controversial Russian election. Despite the warning, the news broke that the instruction was ignored, and the image of the stark, capitalized text became an immediate symbol of defiance or incompetence. Online, the meme is used to mock situations where someone is given clear, simple advice and chooses to do the exact opposite, or to ironically downplay a personal 'achievement' that shouldn't actually be celebrated.