Viral Photo Appears To Show Donald Trump Looking Jealous As Vladimir Putin And Crown Prince Mohammad High-Five
Donald Trump is apparently a jealous friend.
On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman shared an overly friendly greeting at the G-20 Summit, sharing a high five as both had a big smile. But a new picture making the rounds on Twitter shows how Donald Trump apparently reacted — badly.
In the image, Trump appeared to have a sour face as he watched Putin share such a warm greeting. That is usually Trump’s territory, like back at the Armistice Day ceremony in France where Trump had a warm (and some thought almost loving) smile when he saw Putin enter the ceremony, as reported by the Inquisitr. The photos — posted by Washington Post columnist Brian Klass on Twitter — showed that the other world leaders in attendance gave steely glares as Putin arrived, though Trump was almost the exact opposite.
Donald Trump’s relationship with both men has come under intense scrutiny. Critics have assailed Trump for making efforts to get close to Putin, despite the assessment of American intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the 2016 election at Putin’s request. Trump seemed to side with Putin over his own agencies, saying after a private meeting in Helsinki that he didn’t see why Putin would be lying about his denials.
The denial of his own country’s assessment — and his continued attempts to meet with Putin in private even after critics called his Helsinki behavior “treasonous” — has worried many critics. Now, the new friendship between Putin and Crown Prince Mohammad seems to be worrying Trump.
Trump won’t get the same chance to hand out with Putin at this weekend’s event. The president was again set to meet with Putin in private during the G-20 Summit, but abruptly canceled on Friday and blamed Russia’s recent aggression toward Ukraine. Russian warships captured a Ukrainian navy vessel this week, taking 24 sailors into their custody. The United States and other nations have called on Russia to return them.
Trump has also been criticized for his refusal to condemn Saudi Arabia for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. As the New York Times reported, the CIA has concluded that Crown Prince Mohammad personally ordered and oversaw Khashoggi’s murder, but Trump has seemed to accept the Saudi denials.
It was not clear if Donald Trump planned any informal meetings with Putin or Crown Prince Mohammad during the meeting of world leaders, or if he’s worried that he could be the third wheel between the apparently new BFFs.
