Trudeau first world leader to avoid Trump‘s awkward handshake
President Donald Trump greeted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House on Monday morning and per the customary formal greeting, the two world leaders shook hands.
President Trump welcomes Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the White House. https://t.co/n7TqA3VDnW pic.twitter.com/5TcpyDfZx5
— ABC News (@ABC) February 13, 2017
Check muscle flinch at 0:06
Trump tries his macho arm-yank handshake thing
But he gets nowhere, due to Trudeau’s single-arm dumbbell rows https://t.co/DtQH2U5Xj9— Jonathan Kay (@jonkay) February 13, 2017
Up close this is an amazing handshake. Note how Trudeau is pulling at times and pushing at other times to keep his hand in the same spot. https://t.co/CSr7Oq36bm
— Stephen Marche (@StephenMarche) February 13, 2017
It’s the latest Trump handshake to come under scrutiny following a cringe-worthy meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last week. The bizarre moment incited The Guardian to run the headline, “Never has such a strong grip looked so weak,” meanwhile American media pounced on Trump’s “habit of pulling forcefully on the hand he’s shaking.”
And then John Oliver broke it down and looked at Trump’s history:
In the moment of meeting, it would appear that the Prime Minister managed to resist Trump’s weird gesture by countering with a friendly but assertive shoulder pat.
While the possibility of another epic bromance like the one shared between Trudeau and Trump’s predecessor seems unlikely, this first interaction looked… civil.
Trudeau “I’ll skip the handshake!” pic.twitter.com/ujERe38aFz
— Maggs Naidu (@maggsnaidu) February 13, 2017
Today, we are all Justin Trudeau pic.twitter.com/woXgZshntj
— Kim Kelly (@GrimKim) February 13, 2017
Alt Caption: Canadian PM Justin Trudeau unsure if he should shake President Trump’s hand after reading the Russian Dossier. pic.twitter.com/gV8byNEgvW
— Daniel (@peytonisrad) February 13, 2017
🇨🇦💁🏻♂️🖕🏻🤡 hehe @JustinTrudeau @realDonaldTrump #Trudeau #WelcometoCanada pic.twitter.com/cvVpxfQIe9
— Ariane Bellamar (@ArianeBellamar) February 13, 2017
Justin Trudeau looking at Trump like, “I read about that dossier, I ain’t touchin’ you” pic.twitter.com/bQgs8MPlhW
— Kaivan Shroff (@KaivanShroff) February 13, 2017
when he looks nothing like his pic but u already paid for the uber over pic.twitter.com/WTPvc9Nu1a
— MAX IM A KOOPA (@meakoopa) February 13, 2017
Canada really doesn’t rock with Trump. pic.twitter.com/qc1AZUiNTs
— Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) February 13, 2017
How the rest of the world views Trump in one image. pic.twitter.com/dklfmX39aR
— Dan Speerin (@danspeerin) February 13, 2017
“As you can see they are NORMAL SIZED HANDS.” pic.twitter.com/lmxVF29fAt
— Anne T. Donahue (@annetdonahue) February 13, 2017
“My people said you’d like this.” pic.twitter.com/7kNAUsZlPV
— Lauren Strapagiel (@laurenstrapa) February 13, 2017