President Trump had some difficulty figuring out a group handshake between world leaders at a publicity event to kick off the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit on Monday.
This year's summit, being held in the Philippines, began with the same handshake that has been seen in years past. But apparently it came with a bit of a learning curve.
At first, Trump assumed it was just a regular handshake, but quickly learned the error of his ways after he realized everyone was crossing their arms before grabbing each other's hands.
It didn't stop Trump from making a variety of faces as he struggled to make the new handshake work.
Video of the incident made the rounds on Twitter, of course:
The awkward handshake joins a long list of handshakes gone awry for President Trump. Most notably, Trump had some uncomfortable handshakes with French President Emannuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier in the year, which called into question whether or not Trump actually knows how to shake someone's hand without it being unnecessarily intense or weird.
But if this newest handshake is any indication, the answer is a resounding "no."
Of course, some of the more white-knuckle handshakes have been seen as attempts by Trump to assert power or dominance over a political foe or supposed ally.
Speaking of a supposed "ally," Twitter didn't appreciate the fact that Trump was shaking hands with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has been accused of mass murder:
For some, the handshake feels fairly symbolic:
The summit continues through Tuesday, so there will be plenty of opportunities for Trump to have more awkward handshakes with various world leaders.
And when he does, you can bet that cameras will be there to capture it all for the entertainment of social media.
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H/T: Huffington Post, Twitter
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U.S. Mint
