Donald Trump’s Flaccid Machismo

#PutiTrump | #WhatTheyVotedFor

Much ado is or not, but something about a block of paragraphs from Reuters rings a bell:

Trump and Merkel shook hands when she arrived at the White House but did not do so in the Oval Office where she frequently leaned towards him while he stared straight ahead, sitting with his legs apart and hands together. In the Oval Office both leaders described their meeting in brief remarks to reporters as having been very good.

She began her remarks at the news conference by saying it was better to speak to each other than about each other.

“We held a conversation where we were trying to address also those areas where we disagree, but we tried to bring people together … (and) tried to find a compromise that is good for both sides,” Merkel said.

They shook hands again at the end of the press conference and then exited the East Room together.

Honestly, I think we’ve seen this before. Something goes here about Vladimir Putin and a dog.

The Reuters report from Jeff Mason and Andreas Rinke^α stands out because there really did seem a lot of buzz and chatter about President Trump dusting off Chancellor Merkel—refusing to even acknowledge her—during the one photo session, and those four paragraphs are nearly meta-awkward for so studiously attempting to journalistic-heroically avoid making a big deal out of the moment.

It is, quite honestly, as if the mere sight of Chancellor Merkel is enough to strike fear in Vladimir Putin or Donald Trump; both men seem determined to show her particular disrespect, though neither can manage any better than two-bit fake machismo. As Chancellor Merkel said of the Russian president, so also we might note of Mr. Trump: “I understand why he has to do this—to prove he’s a man. He’s afraid of his own weakness.”

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^α With noted additional reporting by Noah Barkin in Berlin, and Emily Stephenson and Susan Heavey in Washington; editing by Yara Bayoumy and James Dalgleish. It takes a village.

Image notes: Top — U.S. President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel shake hands at the conclusion of their joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., 17 March 2017. (Detail of photo by Jim Bourg/Reuters) Right ― Russian President Vladimir Putin. (uncredited)

Fisher, Max. “This quote about Putin’s machismo from Angela Merkel is just devastating”. Vox. 20 May 2015.

Mason, Jeff and Andreas Rinke. “In first Trump-Merkel meeting, awkward body language and a quip”. Reuters. 17 March 2017.