Donald Trump offers shoves and strange handshakes on the world stage | Ross Barkan

Donald Trump doesn’t have to open up his mouth to make news anymore. The poor prime minister of Montenegro, a country with less people than El Paso, Texas, learned this the hard way when Trump gave him a big shove on Thursday to get to the front of a pack of world leaders. Doesn’t Dusko Markovic know you can’t box out The Donald?

The shove came as Trump met with the uncomfortable members of Nato in Brussels to lecture them on their need to spend more on their defense. What this has to do with shoving Markovic in an attempt to shake hands with Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is entirely unclear, but no one ever said making America great again was easy. Especially when the new president loves to shake hands.

But it’s his handy clash with France’s new president, Emmanuel Macron, that will likely overshadow whatever Trump has been trying to do on his first jaunt abroad as commander-in-chief.

We know already that Trump, who belongs to a wrestling hall of fame, likes to creatively shake hands. He once clenched Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s hand for 19 excruciating seconds. He strangely clutched British Prime Minister Theresa May. He engaged in a battle of wills with his polar opposite, young liberal Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister.

With Macron, it was power on power. Both men are insurgents who won unlikely victories: Macron with his own political movement outside France’s dominant parties, Trump by seizing control of a weak Republican Party and remaking it in his own image. Macron was no doubt swaggering from vanquishing Trump’s bosom buddy, the far-right Marine Le Pen. And Trump, well – he’s not someone who can go down without a hard shake.

The two men crushed each other’s hands, not letting go. Knuckles turned white. Polite smiles held firm. Perhaps equally matched, the internet seemed to believe the fresh-faced Frenchman won the round. No shoving necessary.

But there was more. Later that day, Macron snubbed Trump to greet Angela Merkel, the powerful German chancellor who just might be the most un-Trump-like person alive today. Trump, of course, had failed to shake Merkel’s hand at a photo-op earlier this year. When Macron came around to Trump this time, having warmly greeted Merkel, the American president grabbed his hand and appeared to attempt the novel joint-dislocation handshake. Macron survived to fight another day.

What does this all mean? What can Trump’s handshakes tell the world about American diplomacy? What can they tell us about the man himself? Is he overcompensating for his smallness? It’s hard to say. Just as Trump doesn’t overthink matters of policy, he’s likely not undertaking in depth planning of his handshakes.

There are hands he will like and hands he won’t. Some, like the unfortunate prime minister of Montenegro, will be collateral damage. If you ever have the chance to shake the president’s hand, just come prepared.