As someone famous for making deals, one would assume that President Donald Trump has got handshakes down to an art. The famous germaphobe has instead called handshakes a "barbaric" practice and "one of the curses of American society."
"The more successful and famous one becomes, the worse this terrible custom seems to get," Trump wrote in 1997's Art of the Comeback. And boy oh boy, how true that is. On Friday, President Trump greeted Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with a 19-second-long handshake to end all handshakes. Trump made nothing about the handshake look comfortable, from his terrifyingly firm grasp to the pat at the end, and even the fact that he then posted a video of the handshake to Twitter.
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Afterward, Trump says "strong hands," and Abe mostly just looks like he wants to run away. Anyway, A for effort President Trump, but maybe keep practicing. There are a whole lot more handshakes in your future.
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