Donald Trump and French president Emmanuel Macron awkwardly shook hands three times on Monday as they met in Washington DC to discuss a possible end to Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The duo’s uncomfortable ‘death clasp’ handshakes have gone viral over the years, with footage from 2017 showing the two leaders locking hands for 29 seconds straight.
First meeting outside the White House for a press conference yesterday afternoon, the pair gripped onto each other for an excruciating 12 seconds as they reunited and posed for photos.
The second awkward encounter took place inside Trump’s Oval Office, when the US President shouted over the French leader and placed his hand on his leg, resulting in Macron turning the physical contact into another handshake.
Sitting alongside the French president, Trump said Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky would visit the White House this week or next to conclude a deal to share the war-torn country’s natural resources.
Later, the third uncomfortable shake of the day happened during a news conference, which appeared to show Trump oddly twisting Macron’s arm before they locked fists and faced the audience.
Sir Keir Starmer is also set to meet Trump on Thursday, but in a suggestion Britain may not escape tariffs, the US president said he would go ahead with ‘reciprocal’ US charges of 20 per cent to match the EU’s VAT rate.
Russian officials have rejected the suggestion of European peace-keeping troops, which Sir Keir and other leaders have offered, to ensure a demilitarised zone between Russia and Ukraine in any peace settlement.
When asked if he thought Putin could accept that as part of a final agreement, Trump replied: ‘Yeah, he will accept that. I’ve asked him that question.
‘Because if he’s not, look, if we do this deal, he’s not looking for more war. He doesn’t mind but I’ve specifically asked him that question. He has no problem with it.’
The US president added: ‘I think we could end it within weeks, if we’re smart. If we’re not smart, it’ll keep going and we’ll keep losing young, beautiful people that shouldn’t be dying.’
Trump seemed in good spirits as he spent the day alongside a smiling Macron, with the pair going viral on social media for their prolonged handshakes – which appear to have become tradition.
Body language expert Judi James referred to the shake outside the White House on Monday as a ‘death clasp’.
‘With the eyes and the fate of the world currently resting on their shoulders,’ James told DailyMail.com, ‘this latest handshake greeting was always going to be riddled with signals of superior power and dominance.’
Monday’s first grab-and-grin was the latest in a long line of elongated shakes between the two leaders, which started eight years prior.
During a May 2017 meeting ahead of the NATO summit in Brussels, Trump and Macron gripped hands so tightly that their knuckles turned white and their jaws clenched.
Macron said at the time that the clinch of a handshake was ‘not innocent’ and meant to be a ‘moment of truth’ showing his US counterpart that the French leader would not be intimidated.
They shared several more bizarre handshakes during Trump’s first term, which ended in January 2021.
In December 2024, after Trump won reelection over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, he and Macron were reunited in Paris for the reopening of the Notre Dame, which had been severely damaged in a April 2019 fire.
Trump and Macron were back at it with the intense handshakes during the trip.
It comes as the prospect of thousands of UK troops deploying to Ukraine was a step closer last night amid a warning from Donald Trump that the conflict could ‘escalate into a Third World War’.
Previously, the Kremlin has insisted no personnel from Nato member states could join a post-peace deal stabilisation force.
But speaking at the White House yesterday on the third anniversary of the Russian invasion, and after a visit by Macron, President Trump said: ‘I specifically asked him [Vladimir Putin] that question. He has no problem with it.’
If confirmed by Russia, the move would represent the Kremlin’s first concession since talks began – and would suggest Putin was serious about ending the war.
It would also pave the way for a significant UK contribution, alongside France – but not the United States – to a multinational force in Ukraine.
Military experts have suggested the British force could be as large as 15,000 personnel and would include RAF jets and a Royal Navy force in the Black Sea, as well as ground troops.
Such a commitment would cost billions annually and require an increase in UK defence spending.
Mr Macron said peace ‘must not mean a surrender of Ukraine, or ceasefire without guarantees’, adding: ‘It must allow for Ukrainian sovereignty and allow Ukraine to negotiate with other stakeholders regarding the issues that affects it.’
Mr Trump said the negotiations with Putin were ongoing, adding ‘My whole life is deals, that’s all I know’.
He said: ‘I really believe that he wants to make a deal. I may be wrong, but I believe that he wants to make a deal.’
Meanwhile, Putin has said he is ready to collaborate with the US on rare earth metals production. He told state TV that a US-Ukraine deal involving the minerals was not a concern.
It came as the US made history at the United Nations by voting with Russia and North Korea and against its allies. The US voted against a UN resolution proposed by Britain demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine and calling Russia an ‘aggressor’.
The resolution received 93 votes in favour, with the United Kingdom and most European nations supporting it. Eighteen countries opposed it.
Speaking in the Oval Office during Mr Macron’s visit, Mr Trump said: ‘I think the war [in Ukraine] could end soon, within weeks, if we’re smart. If we’re not smart, it will keep going. We don’t want that. Remember what I said – this could escalate into a Third World War and we don’t want that either.’
Mr Trump reiterated that he intended to meet Putin for talks on Ukraine but added: ‘I don’t know when we’ll speak. At some point I’ll be meeting [him].’
Mr Macron also said there was ‘good reason’ to re-engage with Putin. ‘Being strong and having deterrence capacities is the only way to be sure it [an agreement] will be respected,’ he added. ‘I believe that the US has the capacity to do so.’
