Social media users erupted over President-elect Trump’s “dominating” handshake with French President Emmanuel Macron at their meeting in Paris Saturday.
Trump traveled to France to attend the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, his first international trip since winning the 2024 presidential election. Ahead of the event, Trump met Macron, and the two shook hands in a gesture that quickly went viral online.
“President Trump is back to dominating world leaders with his handshake,” one user, George, wrote in a post on X. “Macron is going to need a hand massage after all that twisting and pulling Trump did to him.”
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French President Emmanuel Macron, right, shakes hands as he welcomes U.S. President-elect Trump before a meeting at the Élysée Presidential Palace in Paris Dec. 7, 2024. (Mustafa Yalcin)
“President Trump manhandles French President Emmanuel Macron with one of the most dominating handshakes I’ve ever seen,” said commentator Drew Hernandez. “We are so back.”
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Colin Rugg wrote, “7 years later and the handshake battle continues between Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron.”
During a meeting in 2017, during Trump’s first term in office, the two world leaders had a 29-second handshake and appeared to be tugging back and forth as they walked with their wives.
French President Emmanuel Macron meets with President-elect Trump at the Élysée Palace Dec. 7, 2024, in Paris (Oleg Nikishin)
“The Trump-Macron handshake is hilarious,” author John Lefevre said in a post on X. “Because it happened twice. And you know Macron was told to prepare and probably practiced and then still got dominated.”
Trump’s handshakes with world leaders have gone viral over the years, including when he pulled in Russian President Putin’s arm during a handshake at the G-20 Summit in 2019.
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Trump attended the reopening ceremony alongside political figures, including first lady Jill Biden and Prince William.
