The Trump administration has frustrated politicians and American citizens on both sides of the aisle. He is far from the traditional style of president that the United States has witnessed in the past, and that has to do in large part with his lack of political experience. That inexperience has resulted in some pretty awkward (and embarrassing) moments for the president, particularly when engaging with other world leaders. Here are five photos of world leaders meeting with Trump who clearly did not know what they were getting themselves into. Seriously, these are too funny to not revisit.
Trump is anything but a traditional president, so clearly his meetings with other world leaders thus far have been non-traditional as well. Am I surprised that Trump and his political counterparts have had less than smooth encounters? Not at all — it's to be expected from Trump. But maybe with time Trump will learn how to approach a world leader with class and ease. Or maybe he won't. Only time will tell. But if this administration has taught me anything, it's that laughter is truly the best medicine. So below are a handful of the most strange, awkward, and shady moments that Trump's shared with other world leaders.
This first awkward encounter is best illustrated in video. In May 2017 while attending a NATO summit in Brussels, Trump entered the alliance's new headquarters along with a group of foreign diplomats, including Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, for a group picture. As they walked in, Trump appeared to shove past Montenegro Prime Minister Dusko Markovic and push himself to the front of the group as NATO leaders walked in for the photo op. Thankfully, the prime minister dismissed the shove as a "simply a harmless situation."
The awkward video of course went viral. Check out the uncomfortable smile in that video. Cringe.
Next up we have Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel. Her first face-to-face meeting with Trump occurred in March 2017 at the White House. Following their meeting at the Oval Office, the two held a joint press conference in the East Room. But things took an awkward turn when Trump touched on unproven accusations that the Obama administration had allegedly spied on Merkel. In 2013, the German government said that the United States may have tapped Merkel's phone, according to Reuters. Merkel later called President Barack Obama for clarification.
But it didn't stop Trump from awkwardly bringing it up. “As far as wiretapping, I guess, by this past administration, at least we have something in common perhaps,” Trump said to a visibly shocked Merkel. The disturbed look she shot at Trump truly says it all.
Then there's Trump's meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Their February 2017 meeting at the White House could have gone very well as far as I know, but that did not read during their press conference that followed their private conversation. The two shared an absurdly long 19 second handshake, which made the prime minister visibly awkward. I mean, 19 seconds?! That is seriously unprecedented, and I don't know why it needed to happen.
Abe literally felt the need to roll his eyes after the handshake, high school girl style. If that doesn't say "shook" then I seriously don't know what does.
The exchange was so awkward, Abe literally felt the need to physically back away from Trump. I mean, just take a look at this picture — I can't deal.
Yet another awkward encounter that left the world shooketh was when Trump paid a visit to Poland in July 2017. But the weirdness didn't come from Poland's President Andzej Duda, but his wife, first lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda.
A video of Poland's first lady apparently refusing a handshake from Trump very quickly took the internet by storm. In the video, Kornhauser-Duda breezes right past Trump's outstretched hand to greet Melania instead — which was some serious shade on the Polish first lady's part. Of course, she then backtracked and shook hands with the president. So it may or may not have been an intentional move, but it sure was entertaining.
In May 2017, Trump made his first trip to the Middle East where he visited Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia. There he met with King Salman of Saudi Arabia and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt.
The purpose of the trip was to help inaugurate the The Global Center for Combatting Extremist Ideology, according to the U.S.'s Saudi Arabian Embassy. Very respectable, but it was this one particular moment where the three leaders all put their hands on a glowing orb that wound up being the center of attention. And with good reason. Seriously, they all just look very awkward, uncomfortable, and unsure as to why they've all placed their hands on this orb as if they're forming an Avengers villain-style alliance. Did Trump not realize that this was bound to get meme-d?
Typically, it takes an employee six to eight months to fully get the ball rolling in their new position. But Trump has been in office for close to a year and a half now. So, when will he finally figure out how to conduct himself in a presidential manner at all times? I don't think he ever will. But as was witnessed during the 2016 presidential election — truly anything is possible.
