Donald Trump stares directly at Sun during eclipse, wears eye-gear after staffer yells 'don't look'

President Donald Trump squinted and pointed skyward before donning protective glasses to take in the solar eclipse at the White House. The president was joined by wife Melania, son Barron and top aides on Monday afternoon to view the spectacle from the portico overlooking the South Lawn. The White House originally said Trump would watch from the second-floor Truman balcony. Shortly after walking outside, the president looked up at the sky, squinted and pointed upward.

“Don’t look,” one staffer yelled from the White House lawn.

Trump then donned the protective eye-wear. Asked about the view, Trump gave a thumbs up. This is the first total solar eclipse to sweep the United States from coast to coast in nearly a century, although Washington experienced about 80 percent coverage of the sun. Fox News faithfully stood by the president as it called his looking at the Sun “perhaps the most impressive thing any president has ever done.” Twitter was abuzz with reactions to Trump’s disregard for rules. Some predicted the future headlines:

There was the inevitable Barack Obama conflict:

Someone even found the exact time when the eclipse was ordered:

And then of course North Korea got into the mix:

Trump always has reasons for his actions though:

With inputs from AP