The handshake is back: Trump’s aggressive embrace returns with Macron and UAE leader he praises for ‘unlimited money’

Donald Trump brought back his notoriously long, bizarre handshake with French President Emmanuel Macron — and even extended the unusual move to a UAE official, whom Trump hailed as having “unlimited money.”

At a global summit in Egypt over the future of Gaza, the French and U.S. leaders engaged in what appeared to be an uncomfortable 26-second handshake — that included posing for photographs, tugging one another’s arms and changing grips.

Reacting to a clip of Monday’s lengthy shake, one X user quipped: “Diplomacy, but make it WWE.”

Another remarked, “Trump and Macron today with the arm-wrestle battle at the Gaza Peace Summit.”

Yet another summarized: “As is tradition.”

Trump and Macron have a long history of long, odd handshakes.

The length of Monday’s handshake can only be topped by the pair’s greeting in 2017, when Macron clutched Trump’s hand, and despite the U.S. president trying to get free from Macron’s grip, the French leader held on for a colossal 29 seconds.

In June 2018, the presidents met again at the G7 summit and shook hands multiple times, including one particularly firm shake that left the shape of Macron’s thumb imprinted on Trump’s hand.

In December 2024, when the two world leaders reunited for the reopening of Notre Dame in Paris, they engaged in a 10-second-long, firm-gripped handshake-turned-embrace. In response to a clip of the handshake, TV personality Piers Morgan joked in an X post: “I’ve missed the Trump-Macron arm-wrestles.”

When the pair met at the White House in February, photos of Trump’s bruised hand first circulated. Questions swirled over the cause. While the White House insisted the black-and-blue patch resulted from “frequent handshaking,” a social media user joked: “Looks like he had one of his handshaking competitions with Macron.”

On Monday, Trump also engaged in an aggressive, long handshake with Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the vice president and deputy prime minister of the UAE.

While the pair smiled and posed for photos, Trump pointed to Sheikh Mansour, the owner of Manchester City Football Club, and praised, “A lot of cash. Unlimited cash.”

At the summit, Trump signed a ceasefire deal document with other leaders. Hamas released all 20 living Israeli hostages and Israel released 1,900 Palestinian prisoners. Trump hailed the breakthrough as the “new beginning for an entire beautiful Middle East.”