In awkward exchange, Trump seems to ignore Merkel’s handshake request
President Donald Trump, who made headlines for shaking hands with Japan’s prime minister in front of reporters for a full 19 seconds, seemed to ignore German Chancellor Angela Merkel when she suggested that they exchange the same courtesy during her White House visit Friday.
In an exchange caught on video, photographers gathered around Trump and Merkel in the Oval Office early Friday afternoon and suggested that the two leaders shake hands for the camera.
Merkel, a U.S. ally regarded highly by former President Barack Obama, turned toward Trump and asked, “Do you want to have a handshake?”
Trump, who seemed to be grimacing as he sat alongside Merkel, did not respond. He continued looking forward as the cameras rolled.
It is unclear whether or not Trump heard the chancellor, but clips of the exchange immediately made the rounds on Twitter. Reporters dubbed it “awkward.”
“[T]his is so awkward that i died while watching it,” The Atlantic’s Rosie Gray tweeted.
A photograph taken when Merkel first met with Trump earlier in the day outside the White House shows the two leaders shaking hands.
While Trump praised Merkel back in 2015, he later attacked her policy of accepting refugees to Germany, and their worldviews differ significantly. Merkel criticized Trump’s first attempt to ban people from several predominantly Muslim nations from traveling to the U.S. back in January.