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Trump Tries To Dominate French President Macron With Ridiculous ‘Strongman’ Handshake As Leaders Meet Ahead Of Notre Dame Reopening

Awkward!

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624 points

France’s beloved Notre Dame cathedral re-opened Saturday and if you thought President-elect Donald Trump could get through it without one of his macho handshakes, well, guess again. He couldn’t. Instead, he used the opportunity to dominate French President Emmanuel Macron as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy looked on.

The two leaders met in front of the Elysee Palace and posed for photographs as a pair of guards stood by, according to The New York Post. Trump grasped the French president’s hand in his typically vice-like grip.

This isn’t the first time Trump has pulled this stunt with Macron, and the prolonged grip forced him to lean into Trump, and after what seemed like forever, Trump finally let go as the pair headed inside the building.

Don’t think this was lost on social media users, because it wasn’t.

@ArtCandee noted, “Donald Trump’s cringe azz ‘strongman’ handshake with French President Emmanuel Macron shows he’s a tiny man.”

Excellent observation, @ArtCandee. I couldn’t agree more. And whenever he met with foreign leaders, Trump always acted like the bull in the china shop. He offended people, especially then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

In this clip, provided by @BehizyTweets, you can see just how far Trump pushes his dominating tactic.

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“OH MY GOSH! President Trump almost yanked Emmanuel Macron’s hand off for the third time today.”

“Everything he does is calculated.”

@JerasIkehorn wrote: “Trump is do WEIRD and downright AWKWARD, isn’t he?”

“What kind of weird-ass handshake is that?!”

@sofia_firs14276 observed:

“You can tell Macron loathes Trump just like the rest of us.”

This leaves me wondering if Macron did this to make plain his feelings on Trump. There are times he clearly looks displeased with that handshake. Human beings are complicated critters so who knows? Whatever was going on here, Macron rolled out the red carpet for Trump, a ritual that’s usually reserved for sitting U.S. presidents, France 24 reported.

The two men were then joined by Zelenskyy, who clearly knew he was the odd man out here, appearing visibly uncomfortable in a photo op next to the two stern-looking men. In another photo Zelenskyy and Trump were seated, with Zelenskyy appearing expressionless as Macron placed his arm on the Ukrainian president, an obvious attempt to give him a reassuring look.

But the responses to Trump’s over-bearing handshake were social media gold.

“Looks as if Macron is returning the grip and 45 wasn’t expecting it!” observed @ahmcguffin.

Like @ArtCandee I also hope he squeezed hard.

Others observed:

This last tweet above pretty much encapsulates Trump and how he is, but millions of other “horrible” human beings voted this man back into the White House again. This is Trump 2.0 and 1.0 was a nightmare.

I’m not looking forward to the next four years. Are you?

Featured image via YouTube screengrab

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Megan Hamilton

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Megan Colleen Hamilton was born and raised on progressive politics and she has long fought for liberal causes. She has lived in the Pacific Northwest, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, parts of Mexico, and now Central America. Her travels have further informed her progressive beliefs in these troubled times. She is currently owned by 10 cats, two dogs, and one naughty rabbit. She actually is one of those “childless cat ladies.”

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