Much analysis has been done of President Donald Trump’s handshakes with world leaders. His handshakes with French President Emmanuel Macron have attracted intense interest over the years.
That happened again this week, when Trump visited China. When he met Chinese President Xi Jinping, it resulted in a tense “tug of war” handshake that lasted at least 15 seconds.
Trump attempted his classic tug-of-war handshake on President Xi.
Xi knew exactly how to handle that.
The intense moment lasted for 15 seconds. pic.twitter.com/yXk0alnlxR
— Chay Bowes (@BowesChay) May 14, 2026
The New York Times wrote more about that handshake.
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“They shook hands. They took a long walk. One man touched the other’s arm, then he did it again. They later shook hands some more,” the newspaper said. “For two leaders at odds on many fronts — Taiwan, trade, rare earth resources, among others — Thursday’s meeting between President Trump and Xi Jinping, China’s leader, suggested they wanted the rivalry to be more friendly than not.”
“The body language stood in stark contrast to Mr. Trump’s harsh criticism of China at home, and to many of his meetings with longtime U.S. allies. The scene was far from tense or combative, as it was when Mr. Trump hosted Ukraine’s president in the Oval Office. Gone was the gruff distance that Mr. Trump kept from Germany’s former chancellor or NATO leaders.
Trump, for almost as long as he’s been in politics, has been talking tough about China, with his signature tariff policy largely targeted towards China’s influence. But as noted by the Daily Beast, Trump was talking much less tough on his way back from China.
“Donald Trump was noncommittal when pressed on whether he would follow through on plans to supply Taiwan with billions of dollars’ worth of arms after crunch talks with China’s President, Xi Jinping,” the Beast said. “While speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on his way back from the Beijing summit, Trump assured reporters that Xi does not want to start a war with Taiwan and downplayed concerns that the thorny issue of the democratically governed island, which Beijing claims as its own, could even result in a U.S.-China conflict.”
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
