President Trump was very rude to Angela Merkel in the Oval Office

(Image credit: Screenshot/MSNBC)

published 17 March 2017

President Trump held British Prime Minister Theresa May's hand during her visit to the White House, and complimented Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's "strong hands" during his. But Trump's awkwardly tense first visit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday took the cake.

While the two leaders sat side-by-side in the Oval Office to get their picture taken by the press, Trump made a point of avoiding eye contact with Merkel. Because the leaders were sitting just a foot apart, Trump was at times actively turning his head away to avoid meeting the German leader's gaze.

For possibly the longest 15 seconds ever, Trump and Merkel sat in absolute silence. "Send a good picture back to Germany please, make sure," Trump said, finally breaking the stifling quiet. That was the longest sentence he spoke in a minute-long clip of their sit-down, during which he never once directly addressed Merkel. While the two leaders have had tension in the past — Trump once said during the campaign that Merkel was "ruining" Germany — it's unclear what led to the frosty sit-down Friday.