Trump doesn’t shake hands with Merkel during photo op

President Trump did not extend his hand to shake German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s in a Friday Oval Office photo op, a courtesy he usually extends to foreign le

Trump sat next to Merkel in front of a fireplace for the brief photo-op, according to New York Post.

“Very good,” Trump said to assembled reporters when asked about what the two leaders discussed. “Lots of things.”

“Very good, thanks,” Merkel said in German.

But Trump hardly looked at Merkel and, when the photo op ended, didn’t move in for a handshake.

When reporters asked whether there would be a handshake, Merkel leaned in and appeared to ask, “Do you want to have a handshake?”

Trump did not even look back at her.

By contrast, the president did shake hands with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and British Prime Minister Theresa May when they visited him in the Oval Office.

A photograph taken when Merkel first met with Trump earlier in the day outside the White House shows the two leaders shaking.

If Merkel felt slighted, she didn’t show it.

During a joint press conference afterwards, she thanked Trump for his “very warm and gracious hospitality.”

The two also shook after taking reporters’ questions.

News.Az

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