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Trump appears to deny Merkel's handshake

President Donald Trump's hands are making headlines one again after he seemingly ignored German C...
Newstalk
Newstalk

11.14 18 Mar 2017


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Trump appears to deny Merkel&a...

Trump appears to deny Merkel's handshake

Newstalk
Newstalk

11.14 18 Mar 2017


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President Donald Trump's hands are making headlines one again after he seemingly ignored German Chancellor Angela Merkel offer of a handshake during her White House visit Friday.

In an exchange caught on video, photographers gathered around Trump and Merkel in the Oval Office and suggested that the two leaders shake hands for the camera.

Merkel, a US ally regarded highly by former President Barack Obama, turned toward Trump and asked, “Do you want to have a handshake?”

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Trump, who seemed to be grimacing as he sat alongside Merkel, did not respond. He continued looking forward as the cameras rolled.

It is unclear whether or not Trump heard the chancellor - regardless, reporters dubbed the exhcange as “awkward.”

A photograph taken when Merkel first met with Trump earlier in the day outside the White House shows the two leaders shaking hands.

Image: Evan Vucci/AP/Press Association Images

While Trump praised Merkel back in 2015, he later attacked her policy of accepting refugees to Germany, and their worldviews differ significantly. Merkel criticized Trump's first attempt to ban people from several predominantly Muslim nations from traveling to the US back in January.

President Donald Trump previously shook hands with Japan’s prime minister Shinzō Abe in front of reporters for a full 19 seconds.

  Image: Pool/ABACA/ABACA/PA Images

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