Trump’s Awkward Handshake with Shinzo Abe Has Twitter in Splits

The two world leaders engaged in a 19-second handshake that didn’t appear to end well.

Donald Trump met with Shinzo Abe, the Japanese Prime Minister, at the White House on Friday. The two had a full nineteen-second handshake that looked painfully uncomfortable for Abe. Trump just refused to let go of Abe’s hands. Social media has been wondering what was going on inside Trump’s head during the encounter.

Jesus tap-dancing Christ, just shake firmly and let go#Trump #ShinzoAbe #Handshakehttps://t.co/cUO6Cvn471

— Deeply Political (@DeeplyPolitical) February 11, 2017

Awkward, but well handled by the PM: My respect for Shinzo Abe just increased considerably. https://t.co/wc2iuL4fOE

— Chris Bartlett (@BartlettChrisJ) February 11, 2017

super awkward, what's with the "power handshake" #trump #shinzoabe #politics https://t.co/ZZyJNDPtQa

— Sad Useless (@SadUseless) February 11, 2017

I got a good long handshake, the best handshake, believe me. https://t.co/5JkuozjKVV

— Ben Lin (@benandpumba) February 11, 2017

https://t.co/Nd7sDxJYRS Putting the "aw" in #awkward
Funny, but embarrassing for us Americans #MakeItStop #trumpregret #TrumpCheck #smh

— LisaSully (@BoSoxSully) February 11, 2017

We've seen Trump’s weirdo handshakes but no 1 warned Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Eye roll! (by @ToddDracula) pic.twitter.com/CUJs8VbMhG

— RiotWomenn (@riotwomennn) February 10, 2017

PM Shinzo Abe after Trump handshake: 😵 pic.twitter.com/h0ayPS9pB9

— Steve Kopack (@SteveKopack) February 10, 2017