President Donald Trump just can’t seem to catch a break—or a handshake, for that matter.
The commander in chief was attending a ceremony with first lady Melania Trump in Poland Thursday afternoon, accompanied by President Andrzej Duda and his wife, Agata Kornhauser-Duda. Like any other political soiree, the time came for a beautiful photo op during which the leaders would shake hands with each other and their wives, reinforcing their nations’ alliances on a world stage in a tangible and historically documented exchange.
But of course, we’re talking about the Trumps, whose awkward physical interactions during their first trip abroad since assuming the White House were the focus of front-page internet news. On Thursday, the world was once again blessed with an unusual, albeit hilarious, apparent slight, this time involving Trump and the first lady of Poland.
Videos of the moment show both first families walking on stage to perform their official greetings in front of the media, as Trump claps and appears to showcase his wife Melania Trump. Unlike the American president and his wife, Duda holds hands with his wife as the two walk out to accompany the Trumps.
The two leaders shake hands, with Trump leaning in and patting the Polish president on his right shoulder. Trump then leans further, toward Duda’s wife, extending his arm for a handshake with the first lady. Instead, she glides past him, walking toward Melania Trump and reaching out to embrace her instead of the U.S. president.
The exchange immediately went viral, as viewers wrote that Trump was “owned” by the Polish first lady.
It’s unclear whether the encounter was a purposeful attempt by Agata Kornhauser-Duda to avoid touching Trump, though it certainly isn’t the first time the president’s handshakes—or lack thereof—caused global reactions online and in the media.
Trump’s white-knuckled shake with French President Emmanuel Macron was seen as a possible power-play, and the two once again exchanged an uncomfortable greeting during May’s G7 summit in Sicily. The president also was publicly ignored by Melania Trump after deplaning in Israel during their first international trip, as the first lady seemingly smacked Trump’s hands away from her as the two walked on the tarmac.
Trump appears disgruntled immediately after being either ignored or unseen by Kornhauser-Duda, staring blankly past her and Melania and toward a camera observing the entire moment.
Meanwhile, there’s already talk of what the handshake between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will look like Friday, when the two meet for the first time during the G20 forum in Germany.
“[I expect] an Olympian level of macho posturing between these two leaders, who both understand the importance of symbolism and the perception of being tough,” Derek Chollet, a former senior national security official in President Barack Obama’s administration, told CNN.
Then again, as Thursday showed, Trump may very well not receive a handshake at all. And that would likely make Trump very angry.
Source: Yahoo
