Thomson Reuters
- President Donald Trump was faced with a difficult handshake at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Manila on Sunday.
- At first he was confused, but then he nailed it and beamed broadly.
- The resulting picture caused amusing reactions across the internet.
After initial confusion about a complicated handshake at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Manila on Sunday, President Donald Trump sorted himself out and got really into it.
The summit, attended by heads of state from all around Asia to focus on security and economic issues within the world's most populous region, features a signature, crossed-arms handshake between heads of state.
Trump has had unusual interpretations of handshakes in the past, but he appeared initially thrown by the variation. Trump initially took both hands to shake Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc's right hand before detecting Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's left. Trump awkwardly corrected, but then beamed broadly after completing the task.
Study the tape below:
Captured in a still frame, the photo of a triumphant Trump after having mastered a new handshake made the rounds on social media.
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
Though the photo was mocked on social media, it was mainly just people laughing at a funny picture of the president.
Comedian Jon Benjamin pointed out that Trump looks to be doing the "truck face," or the face he made when he got in a big rig earlier in his presidency.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
good luck to whoever has three weeks to get this regional production of Mamma Mia! into shape pic.twitter.com/eCZ81VxbMi
- Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) November 13, 2017
This is what peak performance looks like pic.twitter.com/BiH7gUMk9C
- j.r. hennessy (@jrhennessy) November 13, 2017