President Trump turned a traditional group photo at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in the Philippines into his latest handshake gaffe.
The president, who manually sizes up potential rivals and asserts his alpha-male status, has been caught in some cringeworthy and comical photo ops with world leaders.
In Manila, attendees at the association’s conference executed a cross-body exercise by extending their right arms over their left and shaking the opposite hands of those next to them.
“Give us your brightest smile,” an emcee said, as the leaders assembled onstage, the Washington Post reported.
But Trump struggled with the maneuver.
At first, he crossed his hands in front of him before glancing at the leaders next to him — Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte — and then lifted his arms.
Finally, he struck the correct pose, but strained to reach the hand of the far shorter Duterte, grimaced briefly and broke into laughter.
As expected, social media took notice.
Trump has a repertoire of aggressive — and lengthy — handshakes, including one in which he violently tugs the other person toward him to exert his dominance.
During one notable episode, he was photographed in a white-knuckle handshake with French President Emmanuel Macron.
But Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau short-circuited Trump’s attempt at dominance — using his left arm to hold the president at bay.
