‘The handshake battles continue’: Trump and Macron mocked as duo’s intense greeting spotted again
Trump and Macron have famously exchanged long, white-knuckled handshakes in front of the press
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Your support makes all the difference.Social media was flooded with jokes on Saturday afternoon after President-elect Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron exchanged one of their memorably long, white-knuckled handshakes while meeting in France.
Ahead of the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral, Trump and Macron greeted each other with a 10-second long embrace in which Trump assertively grabbed the French president’s hand and shook it with gusto.
At one point, when Macron seemingly tried to pull away Trump tightened his grip and brought Macron closer for a photo-op. After posing for photos, Macron maintained a firm grip and shook the president’s arm, ushering him into the Elysee Palace.
It was a familiar greeting that some may recall was a staple of their relationship while Trump was president from 2017 to 2020.
“I’ve missed the Trump-Macron arm-wrestles,” television personality Piers Morgan wrote on X.
While meeting in early 2017, Trump and Macron exchanged an equally awkward handshake in front of the press where Trump attempted to pull away only for the French president to tighten his grip.
Later that same year, the two maintained a handshake for a whopping 29 seconds with both men refusing to break away easily.
In 2018, Macron left a visible imprint on the then-U.S. president’s hand after a handshake.
“Welcome to the latest round of the Trump/Macron handshake power struggle saga…” one person wrote on X in response to Saturday’s variation of the handshake.
“There’s that handshake again,” another person commented.
“The handshake!! I will admit I missed *this* part of the circus,” another X user said.
Trump is known for his firm handshakes, which some have perceived as a method to establish dominance over the other person.
But Macron and Trump’s greeting is particularly of note because the French president told a newspaper in 2017 that the handshake was “not innocent” and represented “a moment of truth.”
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