Twitter Reacts To Trump Handshake Snub By Polish First Lady After Warsaw Speech

The first lady of Poland, Agata Kornhauser-Duda appeared to snub President Donald Trump for a handshake Thursday and Twitterati just could not handle it. The Polish first lady went straight to shake hands with Melania Trump, as news cameras captured and the president’s beaming smile turned into a frown within seconds.

On Thursday, Trump gave a speech in Warsaw, Poland, after which he and Polish President Andrzej Duda proceeded for a photoshoot. During the photoshoot, the two presidents along with their wives shook hands with each other. When Trump proceeded to shake hands with the Polish first lady, Kornhauser-Duda was seen gliding past the open-handed Trump in order to reach the first lady Melania Trump.

The Polish first lady shook hands with Trump moments later. However, the photographs taken at the moment had a different story to tell. The angle in which the photographs were clicked, portrayed she did not shake hands with the president at all. Later, the Polish president took to Twitter to comment on the issue citing one of Trump’s favorite phrases: “Let’s fight Fake News.”

Read: Trump Merkel Handshake: White House Meeting Discussed Trade, NATO, Immigration

Trump visited Poland ahead of his trip to the G20 Summit to be held on July 7- 8 in Hamburg, Germany, where he gave a speech to the Polish people and held a press conference with the Polish President.

The handshake incident led Twitter users to respond and interpret things in their own way as this was not the first time the president’s small gesture ended up being awkward.

Trump has made headlines earlier on several occasions, owing to his awkward power handshakes while meeting with world leaders. Body language experts have concluded that his awkward handshake style, which often baffles the other person, is an act of power play to portray and assert his dominance over others on a public platform.

Read: What Is Proper Handshake Etiquette? Ways To Shake Hands Around The World

French President Emmanuel Macron described their first meeting ahead of a NATO summit in Brussels in May, as a “moment of truth.”

“My handshake with Donald Trump – it wasn’t innocent. It’s not the alpha and omega of politics, but rather a moment of truth. I wanted to show that we would not be making small concessions, not even symbolic ones, but that we would not be overdoing things,” the French President said at the time.

Earlier this year in February, Trump had an awkwardly long handshake with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during their meeting at the White House. The handshake lasted for almost 19 seconds and Abe was witnessed rolling his eyes after the incident.

After the announcement of Supreme Court Judge pick Neil Gorsuch in February, the president used his signature power-packed handshake technique to congratulate Gorsuch.

Also in February, when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau became the third world leader to visit the White House, he was smart enough to avoid his hand being yanked by Trump’s signature style handshake. Trudeau leaned into Trump and braced the handshake before his hand could be yanked.

In March, Trump’s ignorance toward German Chancellor Angela Merkel trying to shake his hands during their first meeting grabbed the attention of social media users. Twitterati and other critics said that the rejection for a handshake could portray the difference of opinion between the two leaders on a wide range of issues concerning Russia, trade, and immigration.

Melania Trump too slapped the president’s hand away in Israel during their first foreign trip in May. She also refused to hold the president's hand again when the pair reached Rome.