Another day, another awkward Donald Trump handshake.
The US President is on Thursday in France to mark 100 years since America intervened in the First World War, and his latest trip to Europe will provide respite from the mounting pressure back home over Russian interference in last year’s election.
Trump and First Lady, Melania, met French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, at Les Invalides - the site of Napoleon’s tomb.
While Trump and Macron displayed more warmth than during their last meeting in May, the greetings exchanged between the two couples weren’t entirely comfortable.
It’s mesmerising, Trump appearing torn between leading a dance and offering his trademark yank.
There’s history, of course. When they last met, Trump attempted to slap an alpha handshake on Macron, but was met with a steely grip from his French counterpart.
Macron may well have studied the footage, such as when Trump introduced his Vice President, Mike Pence ...
Or when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe broke the fourth wall after a Trump bone-crusher ...
Perhaps Trump welcoming his nomination for the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch, was monitored closely ...
Or the grip and grin with Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson ...
But if you want to get back to first principles, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first showed the way to deal with it.
If you want to know what’s going on with this habit, there’s a science and madness behind it.
“It’s an intimidation tactic. There are self-preservation strategies and intimidation is one of the main ones,” said Frank Bernieri, an associate professor in the psychology department at Oregon State University, told HuffPost US earlier this year. “This is perfectly consistent with Trump. He pretty much says that’s what I do to make a deal.”