President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron seemed to engage in a private verbal battle on Monday during a tense, jerky handshake at a summit in Egypt aimed at ending the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The two leaders have had a rocky relationship over the years, marked by moments of camaraderie and seemingly hostile interactions. The latest incident occurred as Macron joined other nations in recognizing Palestinian statehood — a move that Trump labeled a reward for Hamas’ terror attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
On Monday, in Sharm El Sheikh, Trump and Macron held hands tightly for nearly half a minute, appearing to vie for physical dominance during a photo op. A professional lip reader who observed the interaction suggested that the two might have exchanged subtle threats and accusations before agreeing to continue their discussion privately.
“Nice to see you, so you agreed?” Trump asked Macron as he joined him on the summit stage, according to lip reader Nicola Hickling. Macron responded while facing away from the camera.
“Is it genuine?” Trump seemed to ask. “Of course,” Macron replied.
“Okay, so now I want to know why. You hurt me. I already know,” Trump appeared to say. “I am making peace.”
Macron tapped Trump’s hand and looked down at it, saying, “Excuse me,” according to Hickling.
Trump seemed to disregard his request and tightened his grip on Macron’s hand.
“Let’s handle this behind closed doors,” Macron seemed to suggest. “I only hurt the other,” Trump shot back.
“I see. We will have to see about that – you will see what is about to happen,” Macron cautioned.
“I’d like to see you do it,” Trump countered. “Do it. I’ll see you in a bit.”
The photo op on stage was part of a summit co-hosted by Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi “to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, and usher in a new era of regional security and stability,” as per the Egyptian presidency.
Twenty world leaders were present at the meeting, including heads of Qatar, Palestine, Turkey, Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, Norway and representatives from the United Nations and European Council.
Notably missing from the summit were Israeli officials and Hamas representatives.
Hickling noted that the tense exchange between Macron and Trump on Monday continued a long history of theatrical diplomacy, dubbing it a case of “power play by touch.”
“Repeatedly prolonged, tight handgrips between these two have a clear history as theatrical diplomacy. The squeeze here (Trump squeezing Macron’s hand while speaking) reads as an attempt to dominate the interaction physically while delivering a conciliatory/accusatory line,” she wrote in an email to The Daily Express U.S.. “This mirrors documented public handshake tussles between the pair.”
In an attempt to disengage from the handshake, Macron seemed to opt for a de-escalation, according to Hickling.
She explained that “Tapping the hand, looking down and then turning away are classic appeasement/de-escalation gestures and an attempt to remove himself from the physical dominance.”
Hickling noted a discrepancy between Trump’s verbal message and his body language. Even as he appeared to tell Macron he was “making peace,” he contradicted this sentiment by tightening his grip.
“That mismatch increases the likelihood this was friendly-theatre mixed with a clear assertion of control,” she said.
The specific details of their disagreement on Monday were not immediately clear, but it came on the heels of a clash between the two leaders last month over the recognition of Palestinian statehood.
“I think it honours Hamas, and you can’t do that because of Oct. 7. You just can’t do that,” Trump told reporters in September, responding to France’s announcement supporting Palestine. The number of countries worldwide advocating for Palestinian statehood now exceeds 145, with the U.S. being one of the few holdouts.
“Nobody forgets the 7th of October, but after almost two years of war, what is the result?” Macron retorted. “This is not the right way to proceed.
“There is one person who can do something about [the war in Gaza], and that is the U.S. president,” Macron declared to France’s BFMTV. “And the reason he can do more than us is because we do not supply weapons that allow the war in Gaza to be waged. We do not supply equipment that allows war to be waged in Gaza. The United States of America does.”