President Donald Trump is not one to skimp on a handshake.
While on a visit to Qatar, Trump gave His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani an Art of the Deal hello with an intense “double pull-in” handshake.
Trump fiercely grasped Al Thani’s hand when the two met Thursday, then pulled him close, abruptly tugging the 6-foot-4-inch leader toward him. If that wasn’t awkward enough, he kept vigorously shaking Al Thani’s hand before going in for another pull-in. After a few more awkward seconds, Trump patted his hand before finally letting go.
Trump’s bizarre handshakes with world leaders date back to his early days in office. In 2017, The Washington Post noted that “Trump has a habit of sharing awkward, intense and sometimes downright strange handshakes with world leaders and U.S. officials.”
Trump, a well-known germaphobe, initially shunned handshaking. He even called it a “barbaric” practice, fearing the flu and “all sorts of things.” But as president, he appears to have embraced the convention.
When he met French President Emmanuel Macron in 2017, both men gripped each other so tightly that their knuckles turned white and their jaws clenched. Trump, who reached in first, tried to release twice. But Macron kept his grip until—after six long seconds—they both let go.
“People don’t realize he loves holding my hand,” Trump said afterward.
On another occasion, they repeated the handshake and even shared an air kiss with their cheeks pressed together (a traditional French greeting).
Macron, however, decided not to share the love this April when he seemingly snubbed a handshake from the commander-in-chief.
When Trump met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2017, he pulled the leader toward him suddenly and shook his hand for 19 seconds.
He did the same with Supreme Court Justice Neil M. Gorsuch when he nominated him for the Supreme Court, “yanking the judge towards him as if he were a pet dog on a leash,” as The Guardian characterized it.
When Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2017, he paired his typical handshake with a soft caress of Putin’s back.
He’s done his typical pull-in with most major officials, but went for a more casual greeting when Kanye West visited him in Trump Tower during his first term. Then, the two dapped each other up.
