President Trump just had the most awkward handshake of all time

President Trump and Japan PM Abe Shinzo
(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter)

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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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.