France President, Emmanuel Macron swerved to avoid the President of the United States, Donald Trump and embraced German Chancellor, Angela Merkel instead, in what seems to be Snub of the Year, in Brussels.
The newly elected French President tweeted the video of himself walking up the red carpet towards the group of NATO leaders, seemingly headed straight towards the US President. But at the last second President Macron ducks to the right and shares a warm embrace with Angela Merkel, leaving Trump to lower his hands awkwardly back down to his sides.
Macron then proceeds to greet other leaders including Trump, who grabs his French counterpart’s hand with a characteristic fiery action.
À Bruxelles, unis avec nos alliés de @NATO. pic.twitter.com/7nyaoI8hki
Advertisement
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) May 25, 2017
The not-so-subtle power play may be read as a show of support for Merkel, after Trump previously refused to shake hands with her when they first met, according to The Telegraph.
The incident also comes after Macron and Trump shared another power handshake on Thursday morning at the pair’s first face-to-face meeting in Brussels.
“Each president gripped the other’s hand with considerable intensity, their knuckles turning white and their jaws clenching and faces tightening,” according to a report by the White House correspondents’ pool.
Philip Rucker of the Washington Post said: “Trump tried twice to release and Macron held on tight… It was quite a handshake, two alphas.”
Trump is known for his habit of pumping people’s hands and then yanking them forcefully towards him in a gesture that psychologists believe is intended to demonstrate dominance. Quite literally, Trump likes to have the upper hand.
Macron, who at 39 is France’s youngest leader, may have been well-prepared for his American counterpart’s strong-arm handshake and simply held on tighter than Trump, 70.
President Donald Trump is never far from controversy; watch him shove fellow NATO leader, Dusko Markovic aside to take front spot in a photo shoot.