Barcroft Media/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel did not shake hands in the Oval Office on Friday afternoon while pictures and videos were being taken.
The German Chancellor and the president were meeting before their joint press conference. Merkel turned to the president, seeming to ask if they should shake hands while cameras were flashing, and Trump did not turn in her direction.
Trump told photographers while they were snapping photos to “send a good picture back to Germany, please. Make sure.” It is unclear why the two did not shake hands.
Trump and Merkel shook hands upon her arrival to The White House and did so following their joint press conference.
The president was critical of the German Chancellor while he was campaigning. He tweeted in December 2015 that Merkel was “ruining Germany,” and also called her a “catastrophic leader.”
I told you @TIME Magazine would never pick me as person of the year despite being the big favorite They picked person who is ruining Germany
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 9, 2015
The two world leaders held a joint press conference in Washington on Friday in the first meeting between the two since Trump took office in January.
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