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The internet is loving Trump's latest awkward handshake from his Asia trip

Alex Lockie   

The internet is loving Trump's latest awkward handshake from his Asia trip
Politics2 min read

U.S. President Donald Trump participates in the opening ceremony of the ASEAN Summit in Manila, Philippines November 13, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Thomson Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump participates in the opening ceremony of the ASEAN Summit in Manila, Philippines

  • 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.

trump handshake asean duterte phuc ngyuen

AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

Trump was between the Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, left, and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, right, during the shake.

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.

trump truck

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Donald Trump poses in a truck outside the White House in March 2017.

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