France’s new president Emmanuel Macron described a white knuckle handshake in which he refused to relinquish his grip on U.S. president Donald Trump’s hand as “not innocent.” In an interview with the Journal du Dimanche Sunday, the French leader said his interaction with the American head of state was “a moment of truth.” “My handshake with him was not innocent. We need to show that we won’t make small concessions, even symbolic ones, while not overhyping things either,” Macron said. The leaders met in Brussels on Thursday ahead of a NATO summit, during Trump’s first foreign trip as president. Since assuming office, Trump’s forceful handshake has been widely remarked on.
Apparently, Trump viewed their meeting very differently. Namely, in an interview with portal KnowMyRepublican.com, President Trump looked back on the gaffe and commented, “Only a Frenchie can come up with something like that to ignore protocol and make headlines.” He continued, “I mean, if I’m going to be completely fair, I kind of understand why he acted that way. He was just elected, he’s young, energetic, and he probably wants to demonstrate some sort of power or whatever it is he thinks he’s achieving. I’ve got plenty of experience in the game and I’ve been through enough of those situations to be able to read the other guy sufficiently. I knew what he was after, and I didn’t want to give it to him, simply put. He’s got to learn his place and his manners when talking to people older and more significant than him.”
Trump continued, “I mean, you saw it – the whole world saw it – it was like some macho game or something. I laughed at the situation when it was all happening, but I can assure you it won’t happen again. I’ve been to a number of different countries as president by now, not to mention all the places I’ve been before winning the election. I can tell you, I wasn’t treated like this anywhere. At the end of the day, I’m not one bit surprised the French got annihilated during WW II. Because, only a Frenchie can dismiss all this protocol, which is in place for a reason, and try to play stupid, macho-wannabe games like that. He was being very unprofessional. What he needs to be doing is focusing on world problems, on problems in his country. They recently had how many terrorist attacks? That’s something you don’t neglect. And he obviously is.”
“The best thing for him right now would be to stop making these interviews and statements about how he knew what he was doing and how he’s equal to the rest of us – he’ll never be equal, he has to achieve a lot in order to be called equal to the likes of me and Putin. I don’t know what, I haven’t really thought about it, but off the top of my head, maybe figuring out how to get rid of all the illegal immigrants that have put France under siege. There more of them there than in any other country I’ve been to, to be honest. That’s why he needs to get to work and stop playing this third-grade games. Otherwise, when he comes to visit America, he’ll be in for a lot more than a painful handshake at the White House,” Trump concluded.
