Every Star Trek Reference In Futurama
3. Tholian Ships In Decision 3012
Decision 3012, like Proposition Infinity, takes a sci-fi comedy view on a real-life issue. The episode focused on the birther movement that had surrounded President Obama during his time, with a presidential candidate having his birth questioned as he ran against Richard Nixon. In the episode, it turns out that Travers was born on Earth, in the future, and has come back to stop Nixon winning as his proposal to build a border wall along the southern border of the solar system will result in robot uprising.
It's this wall that contains the Star Trek reference within the episode. In the future that is shown when Travers explains his reality, the wall being built is shown. The ships being used for the building resemble the Tholian ships from The Original Series episode The Tholian Web.
The Tholin Web is one the classic episode of Star Trek. It is on multiple lists as one of the best episodes of the franchise. With this in mind, it makes perfect sense that the show would reference it. This was first done in Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles by name, but here the ships are on full show, bringing the reference further to the forefront.