Donald Trump’s infamous handshake may have just met its match
This is definitely one way to get around an awkward handshake with the US President.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi appears to have found a way to combat the infamous Donald Trump handshake – with one of his own signature bear hugs.
Trump has had a string of seemingly awkward encounters with world leaders and US politicians, most notably when he shook Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s hand for 19 seconds, and many were watching to see what would happen with Modi.
The Indian leader is well known for his bear hugging tactic, and seemed to take Trump by surprise mid-handshake during their meeting.
— Annie Gowen (@anniegowen) June 26, 2017
— কাঞ্চন গুপ্ত (@KanchanGupta) June 26, 2017
Some even thought the hug was deployed strategically to avoid being yanked towards Trump, as he often likes to do when shaking hands.
— Rob McDonagh (@RobMcD) June 26, 2017
— G (@Gunjan_jsh) June 27, 2017
— Tom Gara (@tomgara) June 26, 2017
Modi managed to get three whole hugs in on the day – one during their joint statements, another after wrapping up his own remarks, and a final one as he departed the White House.
As a self-confessed germaphobe, it’s unclear how Trump would have felt about all this – but after witnessing what happened to Prince William’s hand after his meeting with Modi, maybe a hug was the better option.
Trump described it as an “honour” to meet Modi, and said the relationship between the US and India had “never been better”.
