Why is "covfefe" trending? Trump's midnight typo inspires jokes on Twitter

Impact

When President Donald Trump tweets, he usually makes headlines — but in an early-morning tweet Wednesday, he seemed to be making up a word. And that made-up word quickly became a meme. 

At 12:06 a.m., Trump tweeted out "Despite the constant negative press covfefe” from his personal twitter account, @RealDonaldTrump. 

Twitter/RealDonaldTrump

The tweet, an apparent accident, wasn't deleted until more than five hours later — which was plenty of time for it to be endlessly roasted on Twitter.

Within hours, "covfefe" had become a full-on Twitter meme — and people were already preparing for the strange tweet to come up at the next White House press briefing.

Hours after "covfefe" had already gone viral, Trump finally responded on Twitter. He seemed to laugh off the typo in a tweet sent out later Wednesday morning that said "Who can figure out the true meaning of 'covfefe'??? Enjoy!"

May 31, 2017, 6:42 a.m.: This story has been updated.