Donald Trump’s Awkward G7 Handshakes Raise Eyebrows

President Donald Trump went to the G7 with wars, diplomacy and world leaders on the agenda. The internet, naturally, wanted to talk about his handshake.

Clips from the summit in Évian-les-Bains, France, quickly became social media material as viewers analyzed Trump’s unusually limp greeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, awkward group moments and a hot-mic chair exchange that turned a seating problem into another viral visual.

Trump’s greeting with Macron raised eyebrows because it looked so different from his usual aggressive handshake style. The president appeared to put little weight into the exchange as Macron welcomed him to the summit, prompting online commentary about whether the moment signaled fatigue, disrespect or something else entirely.

Later, Trump appeared more animated while greeting Brigitte Macron, using his more familiar tug-of-war handshake style in an exchange that reportedly lasted about 14 seconds.

Traci Brown, a body language expert and behavior analyst, said the fascination is rooted in something more basic than political gossip.

“Body language is your body's limbic system at work,” Brown explained. “It picks up the tiny signals you may not notice and translates them into feelings so you can tell how to address others. Are they happy, sad, angry, safe or unsafe?”

That is why photos and videos can become irresistible online, especially when the people involved are powerful, famous or already polarizing.

“A lot of info can be gained by looking at clips and even still pictures,” Brown said. “The trouble is that context in any situation provides the real meaning of the behavior. And that context can sometimes be impossible to get a real handle on from the outside looking in.”

During a meeting with tech and world leaders, Trump appeared frustrated that his chair was too low while seated between OpenAI boss Sam Altman and DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis.

“Did you get it up?” Trump could be heard saying as he gestured toward the seat mechanism. “Look at yourself in a picture, and you say, ‘What happened? What happened?’ I had the lowest chair in the whole room.”

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney eventually offered his own chair, joking, “Donald, Donald, Donald. I’ve got the general’s chair.”

Trump accepted, saying, “Oh, that’s much better.”

Brown said snubs are often easier to read than more complicated gestures because they happen quickly. But she warned that online interpretation still depends on the person doing the interpreting.

“There are many highly trained experts who do great work,” Brown said. “And there's the others…”

At the G7, the policy mattered. But the clips got just as much attention.