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Donald Trump's surprise victory in the 2016 U.S. presidential election led to widely mixed social media reactions, among them a spate of tweets, Facebook posts, and other material concerning the pending cut off of misnamed Obama phones (i.e., government-subsidized telephone service for low-income residents): Rumors or jokes about Obama phones didn't appear to be based on any actual developments; social media users simply joked that a Trump presidency meant the end of the program. But the Lifeline program, which was originally intended to subsidize landline phones for low-income Americans (and was introduced under President Ronald Reagan in 1984) did not involve President Barack Obama distributing taxpayer-subsidized cellphones to welfare recipients (which President-Elect Trump could summarily confiscate): Most mentions of cutting off ... Obama phones appeared to be humorous in nature, but some social media users unfamiliar with the program's details presumed the claims were serious. The Lifeline program is not slated for any major changes or discontinuation based on the 2016 presidential election's outcome (and even if it were, any change would not occur the new administration takes office on 20 January 2017).
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