Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

EU president Juncker refuses to hold Trump's hand during White House visit

Commission president's conducted contrasted with Theresa May

Jon Stone
Europe Correspondent
Thursday 26 July 2018 09:56 BST
Comments
Jean-Claude Juncker snubs Donald Trump hand-holding after White House press conference

The European Commission president studiously refused to hold Donald Trump’s hand during a diplomatic visit to Washington – in stark contrast to Theresa May.

Jean-Claude Juncker and the US president announced plans for a new pact to head off a trade war late on Wednesday evening – in an apparent warming of relations between the EU and United States.

But despite the apparent emerging entente Mr Juncker was seen firmly rejecting Mr Trump’s overtures while the two stood at a podium at the White House.

The British Prime Minister was pictured holding Donald Trump’s hand during her diplomatic visit to Washington DC last year. She repeated the action again when the US president visited her this year, supporting him – and even later offering another hand which was ignored by the president.

Mr Trump reportedly has a deep-seated fear of steps and slopes and sometimes seeks assistance from those around him while going up or down them.

His vulnerable conduct in these situations has sparked interest in part because it contrasts with the US president’ usually brash and overconfident public persona.

But Ms May’s willingness to physically support her US colleague in the highly scrutinised arena of international diplomacy was seen as a sign of the two politicians’ closeness.

The surprise breakthrough in Washington came after months of escalating trade war between the EU and US. The two economies are now committed to opening up each others' markets by reducing tariffs and non-tariffs barriers – at least on paper.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in