ASEAN handshake tradition baffles US president

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Having been the US president for almost a year, Donald Trump is still a bit unfamiliar himself with the part and parcels of his job, sometimes in a manner of awkwardness.

The latest moment of learning came amid his first presidential tour in Asia when the camera captured him mixing up a photo-op handshake with other world leaders during a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Manila on Monday.

Per the traditional ASEAN handshake, the leaders line up on stage crossing their arms while reaching out to shake hands with the next person, a ritual meant to be a display of solidarity.

Oops!/Photo by the Reuters

Unfortunately, President Trump was apparently not familiar with the formality. Standing in between Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, the American head of state broke the chain by capping both of his palms to the hands of the Vietnamese leader while leaving President Duterte’s empty left hand hanging in the air.

US President Donald Trump re-establishes the link for the ASEAN handshake./Reuters's photo

Realizing that something was wrong, the US president immediately fell back in line and joined hands with his Philippine counterpart, linking up.

On various occasions, the US president has been spotted to have a unique handshake tactic: pulling his interlocutor closer while patting on the person’s hand, leading some to argue that he means to demonstrate a strongman figure.