President Donald Trump’s popularity at home may have hit record lows, but in Japan at least he has some new fans - a troupe of koi carp, who enjoyed a feast at the hands of the US president today.
On the second day of Trump’s 12-day trip to Asia, he and Japanese premier Shinzo Abe visited the Akasaka palace in Tokyo - home to a pond of valuable koi carp.
Closely followed by a horde of press and photographers, Abe invited Trump to join him in feeding the fish from a small wooden box.
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As photos ops go, it should have been relatively innocuous. However, one particular shot is likely to be remembered as a defining image of the visit.
The photo shows Trump upturning his box of feed, showering its contents into the water.
In Trump’s defence, says The Guardian, he “was merely following his host’s lead”. Video footage shows that both men began by sprinkling a few spoonfuls into the water, before Abe - perhaps pressed for time - empties the remainder of his container into the pond, prompting Trump to do likewise.
Nonetheless, the image caused mirth and despair on social media:
Although, as some pointed out, it could have been worse:
It is not the only social faux pas spotted so far on the US President’s first trip to Japan. When Trump was presented to Emperor Akihito, he offered a handshake but did not follow the Japanese custom of bowing in respect, a departure from the precedent set by Barack Obama on his 2009 visit.
Obama was criticised in the right-wing press at the time for bowing too deeply, supposedly compromising the dignity of his office, the Daily Telegraph reports.
