Donald Trump and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron have a habit of engaging in tug-of-war over handshakes. The two presidents once again shared an unusually long handshake, which is being dubbed as “awkward,” or “aggressive”.
The two leaders had a meeting on Monday, the focus of which was the Ukraine war endgame. While their conversation definitely generated buzz, a few photos from their meeting at the White House went crazy viral online. The snaps revealed a mysterious bruise on Trump’s right hand. In another close-up, the bruise can be seen vaguely concealed with a pile of make-up that failed to blend with his skin tone, creating a discoloration effect.
Scrolling Getty and couldn’t help but notice this photo of a huge bruise on Trump’s hand today pic.twitter.com/LY9LFypsFF
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 25, 2025
In many photos, the huge pile-up looked odd in his hand, and anyone was bound to notice it the very first time. With the close-up photo going viral on X, the bruise became a hot topic on social media. Online users engaged in discussions and debates to speculate what might have caused it.
One X user chimed in, “Trump always tries to act like a tough guy when shaking hands with Macron, Trudeau etc. Then his little, girly, callous free hands are bruised for a month.”
On the contrary, others have questioned his health status and whether the president’s bruised hand is a result of IV drips. “Some photos over the last few months show bruising on Trump’s hand. Maybe bruising from an iv. Always seems to be on the same hand. Getting a weekend at Bernies vibe. The thinning hair and bruising might be something serious. Not just clumsy and old,” an X user wrote.
Donald Trump has a history of sharing awkward handshakes with the leaders of the world. The meeting with Emmanuel Macron was no different. The bruise on the US president’s hand was spotted a few minutes after he shared an aggressive handshake with his French counterpart.
At his Oval Office, Trump “joked” that Emmanuel Macron presented a deal on paper that was completely different from what they verbally agreed upon. “We came out and he started speaking the French deal. We didn’t have an interpreter and he was going on and on and on, and I was just nodding ‘Yes, yes, yes, yes,'” the US president told the reporters. He claimed, “And [Macron] really sold me out because I got back the next day and I read the papers, and I said, ‘That’s not what we said!’”
quite a handshake or whatever this is here between Trump and Macron pic.twitter.com/RrbwQfCQAM
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 24, 2025
Then, Trump and Macron initiated a six-second power struggle with an awkward and aggressive handshake. The French president patted the POTUS’s knee. But a little later, when he attempted to return the gesture, Macron tried to stop him. This led to another odd moment between the duo as they just simply sat for a few seconds holding hands.
Truth be told, Macron and Trump’s meeting turned out to be quite awkward. When the US president claimed that Europe was “loaning” money to Ukraine, his French counterpart “fact-checked” him on his face. Although Emmanuel Macron quickly tried to set the record, Trump just smirked as he spoke.
