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Donald Trump and French president Emmanuel Macron awkwardly shook hands three times on Monday as they met in Washington DC to discuss a possible end to Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The duo’s uncomfortable ‘death clasp’ handshakes have gone viral over the years, with footage from 2017 showing the two leaders locking hands for 29 seconds straight.
First meeting outside the White House for a press conference yesterday afternoon, the pair gripped onto each other for an excruciating 12 seconds as they reunited and posed for photos.
The second awkward encounter took place inside Trump’s Oval Office, when the US President shouted over the French leader and placed his hand on his leg, resulting in Macron turning the physical contact into another handshake.
Sitting alongside the French president, Trump said Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky would visit the White House this week or next to conclude a deal to share the war-torn country’s natural resources.
Later, the third uncomfortable shake happened during a news conference, which appeared to show Trump oddly twisting Macron’s arm before they locked fists and faced the audience.
Sir Keir Starmer is also set to meet Trump on Thursday, but in a suggestion Britain may not escape tariffs, the US president said he would go ahead with ‘reciprocal’ US charges of 20 per cent to match the EU’s VAT rate.
US president Donald Trump greets French president Emmanuel Macron and the pair shake hands for 12 seconds
Trump stands outside the West Wing and greets Macron with an intense and elongated handshake
The second awkward handshake happens in Trump’s Oval Office, taking place after the US president puts his hand on Macron’s leg
Macron turns the physical contact into another handshake between the smiling leaders
In their third prolonged handshake of the day, Trump appears to twist Macron’s arm before they lock fists and face the audience during a news conference
The pair embrace each other at a news conference before shaking hands again
Russian officials have rejected the suggestion of European peace-keeping troops, which Sir Keir and other leaders have offered, to ensure a demilitarised zone between Russia and Ukraine in any peace settlement.
When asked if he thought Putin could accept that as part of a final agreement, Trump replied: ‘Yeah, he will accept that. I’ve asked him that question.
‘Because if he’s not, look, if we do this deal, he’s not looking for more war. He doesn’t mind but I’ve specifically asked him that question. He has no problem with it.’
The US president added: ‘I think we could end it within weeks, if we’re smart. If we’re not smart, it’ll keep going and we’ll keep losing young, beautiful people that shouldn’t be dying.’
Trump seemed in good spirits as he spent the day alongside a smiling Macron, with the pair going viral on social media for their prolonged handshakes – which appear to have become tradition.
Body language expert Judi James referred to the shake outside the White House on Monday as a ‘death clasp’.
‘With the eyes and the fate of the world currently resting on their shoulders,’ James told DailyMail.com, ‘this latest handshake greeting was always going to be riddled with signals of superior power and dominance.’
Monday’s first grab-and-grin was the latest in a long line of elongated shakes between the two leaders, which started eight years prior.
Trump and Macron clinch hands as they meet on the sidelines of the G7 in Quebec, Canada in June 2018
French president Macron invites Trump to Paris for the reopening of the Notre Dame in 2019
During a May 2017 meeting ahead of the NATO summit in Brussels, Trump and Macron gripped hands so tightly that their knuckles turned white and their jaws clenched.
Macron said at the time that the clinch of a handshake was ‘not innocent’ and meant to be a ‘moment of truth’ showing his US counterpart that the French leader would not be intimidated.
They shared several more bizarre handshakes during Trump’s first term, which ended in January 2021.
In December 2024, after Trump won reelection over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, he and Macron were reunited in Paris for the reopening of the Notre Dame, which had been severely damaged in a April 2019 fire.
Trump and Macron were back at it with the intense handshakes during the trip.
