Donald Trump responds with SpongeBob meme after outrage over email all federal employees are receiving

Donald Trump had a rather brutal response to the latest criticism he has been facing over the fate of federal employees.

President Donald Trump made it clear ahead of being elected that he would be doing things rather... differently.

Regardless of the feelings towards him, this certainly does appear to be the case, as he took to his own social media platform to address some of his critics.

People have taken issue with the latest move by the president and Elon Musk, as the tech billionaire sent out a mass email to federal employees essentially giving them an ultimatum.

Over the weekend on Saturday (February 22), Musk sent a message to federal staff and demanded they list five tasks they completed in the last week by 11.59pm on Monday - or resign.

Trump doesn't seem so worried about his critics (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Explaining this move on Twitter, he said he sent the email to 'see who had a pulse and two working neurons'.

Musk wrote: "This was basically a check to see if the employee had a pulse and was capable of replying to an email.

"Lot of people in for a rude awakening and strong dose of reality. They don't get it yet, but they will,"

On Truth Social, Trump chose to post an edited SpongeBob SquarePants meme clearly directed at those who were unhappy with the move.

The image showed SpongeBob scratching his head while looking at a notepad as he ticked off things on his to-do-list, seemingly meant to represent the federal workers.

The second panel of the image shows the ‘got done last week’ list and reads: “Cried about Trump. Cried about Elon. Made it into the office for once. Read some emails. Cried about Trump and Elon some more.”

While some people were outraged by the mocking response, others found it quite amusing.

One Twitter user wrote: “Trump is a real one. Never thought I'd say it but I love that orange tomato.”

Trump received a mixed response for his mocking meme (Donald Trump)

Another added: “Funniest dude ever to be in the White House.”

A third wrote: “Trump's comedic genius is unparalleled and the libs are so triggered. Cry harder commies.”

However, a Trump critic responded to this news by saying: “How inconsiderate and cold hearted is that ? Especially when he’s the biggest crybaby ever.”

Another said: “This is a president? This is presidential? If you think this is funny or cool, you are just a stone cold loser.”

A third added: "What an embarrassment he continues to be."