Though President Donald Trump has only been in office for a little over a year, he has had some pretty notable awkward moments—especially when it comes to meeting with other world leaders and politicians. From that bizarre handshake chain with Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to that time Trump pushed Montenegro’s PM’s out of his way, Trump already has a treasure-trove of listicle-worthy awkward moments. However, Trump’s most recent White House visit with French President Emmanuel Macron had quite a few uncomfortable moments.
While, Trump’s entire visit seemed like he and Macron were trying to prematurely rush their bromance (which some people are apparently rooting for), we know that the allegedly blossoming Trump-Macron friendship doesn’t compare to Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s ongoing bromance. Nevertheless, Trump and Macron had too many embarrassing moments for us to rank all of them, but here are some of the uncomfy highlights from Tuesday’s meeting.
1. The now-famous lingering handhold
Their body language went beyond the usual respectful handshakes of two world leaders meeting for high-level talks https://t.co/DMZCHh2e4Q
— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 25, 2018
According to PEOPLE, Trump basically grabbed Macron by his hand and whisked him away led him away from the press’ cameras.
However, that wasn’t the most awkward phalange tango between the two leaders.
2. The handshake that went on forever (well approximately 20 seconds)
As Mashable reports, at one point during their meeting, Trump offered his hand to Macron (to which Macron over zealously accepted). Granted, that was just the start of a persistent handshake, which transitioned to a half-embrace between the two presidents — after which, the duo walked off-camera, where Macro ultimately wrapped his arm around Trump’s shoulder.
Honestly, I have to bribe my bestie since middle school to take my Instagram photos and these two have multiple GIF-able handshakes after one meeting. (The audacity.)
Regardless, the two handshakes weren’t the only grippingly uncomfortable moments during their meeting.
3. That smooch
At the start of their meeting, The Guardian notes that the two grazed each other’s cheek to plant a brief kiss. Unsurprisingly, yet another handshake preempted this notorious kiss. The only thing that ended the two’s palm embrace was Trump side comment. “I like him a lot,” Trump said.
However, certain members of the Trump family might not be onboard with this bromance.
4. Melania went kiss-less
Trump didn’t kiss Melania but didn’t have any issue kissing the French First Lady Brigitte Macron. pic.twitter.com/7mIdo7SNg6
— Red T Raccoon (@RedTRaccoon) April 24, 2018
Although Trump and Macron shared a strange handshake-turned-kiss, the Huffington Post adds that Trump didn’t kiss his wife, Melania Trump. While Trump gave Melania a tender air-kiss on each of her cheeks, he planted his lips on Brigitte Macro, the French First Lady.
So maybe Melania felt a little jealous, which might explain why she refused to show any physical affection to her husband.
5. Melania not-so-subtly declined to hold Trump’s hand
First Lady Melania Trump had another awkward hand-holding moment with husband Donald Trump as they welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte. pic.twitter.com/RyWEhi8uYE
— People (@people) April 24, 2018
PEOPLE adds that while posing for the White House press, Trump coyly tapped his fingers against Melania’s hand. However, Melania seems to ignore Trump’s attempts to get her to hold his hand. Yikes.
Though maybe this explains why Trump was so overly affectionate toward his bro Macron. (Maybe Trump was intentionally trying to make Melania jealous. The plot thickens.)
6. Trump made sure Macron was camera ready, by brushing off his dandruff
Trump literally told the French President that he has dandruff and tried to wipe it off of him. pic.twitter.com/JXqI7I6LYL
— Jamie O’Grady (@JamieOGrady) April 24, 2018
Before Trump and Macron started deliberating the Iran deal, Trump made sure Macron was picture-perfect by dusting off the dandruff on Macron’s shoulders.
Granted, our sources have yet to confirm if Macron actually had any dandruff on his shoulders. (So maybe Trump just used this as a ploy to cozy-up with Macron again.)
7. The fact that Trump repeatedly told Macron that he likes him
Let’s face it: we’ve all have moments in our lives where we felt the need to consistently remind our bestie how much we love them—because we get hyped about hyping up our friends. While you might be somewhat inebriated when you repeatedly remind your friends how much they mean to you, Trump fearlessly admitted his admiration for Macron, numerous times during their meeting.
After Trump cleaned Macron’s shoulders of any troublesome scalp residue, Trump said, “We have to make him perfect. He is perfect.” Clearly, Trump is the hype-man Macron didn’t know he needed until now.
Though Macron and Trump’s three-day professional affair was basically a sit-com already, comedians like Stephen Colbert couldn’t help making jokes about this charade. While comedians and Redditors continue to banter about Trump and Macron’s romancing escapades, we can’t help but wonder what these two will do on their next friend-date.