Donald Trump × Shinzo Abe “Most Awkward Handshake”

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe’s second audience with the God Emperor has attracted much notoriety online, with the two honchos awkwardly shaking hands whilst staring directly at each other – the language barrier, Trump’s inventive handshaking technique and the necessity of an unnaturally drawn out spectacle for the cameras likely all playing a role.

Visiting the United States for a series of meetings with Donald Trump (whose tearing up of the TTP seems to be water under the bridge already, assuming Abe ever genuinely supported the pact), Abe took part in a brief photo session with Trump to please the media, resulting in a cringe-worthy handshake lasting some 19 seconds in duration:

Naturally, Trump haters have been crawling over themselves to label this another crass spot of post-Trumpening boorishness, perhaps having grown all too used to 8 years of supine grovelling before the world’s potentates by his well trammeled predecessor…