Donald Trump has long treated a handshake like a mini wrestling match — a moment where diplomacy meets reality-show theatrics.
For years, the former businessman-turned-president has leaned into a greeting style that pulls, grips, and lingers just long enough to make the other person adjust their footing. It’s a move critics say is meant to project dominance, the physical equivalent of a chest-thump before negotiations even begin.
That signature greeting has become almost as recognizable as Trump’s campaign slogans. But as cameras capture every angle of modern diplomacy, the once-intimidating gesture has increasingly turned into something else: a viral spectacle. Instead of leaving world leaders off balance, the moment sometimes becomes a tug-of-war that reveals who refuses to play along.
The latest episode unfolded during a meeting with Paraguayan President Santiago Peña, where Trump attempted his familiar extended clasp. The pair met at the “Shield of the Americas” Summit at Trump’s golf club in Doral, Florida, on Saturday, March 7, with other leaders, according to the Daily Beast.
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The moment quickly looked less like a confident greeting and more like a stubborn stalemate as Peña held his ground and resisted the pull. Trump tried to pull, the leader pulled back and held his ground. Trumps smirk at the end appeared to show defeat. This comes a month after the president said he was “young and handsome,” jokingly clarifying, “I don’t like young, handsome men. Women—I like. Men, I don’t have any interest.”
Online observers had plenty to say once the clip began circulating.
“Who taught Trump this stupid tug of war thing with his handshakes? Fred? Roy Cohn? Epstein? I guess it’s supposed to be some kind of dumb power move. This morning with the President of Paraguay,” one person wrote.
Another commenter pointed out that the move isn’t new.
“He also does the whole try to squeeze the other guy’s hand too tight bullsh-t. There’s a great clip out there of Macron returning the gesture and Trump trying to pull away,” they wrote, referencing another moment where the tactic met resistance.
Others saw the exchange as more awkward than intimidating.
“I wish someone would just yank him and make him fall over,” one user posted as the video made its rounds across social media platforms.
The tension of the moment seemed obvious even through a short clip.
“It looks so tense. It makes him look pathetic to keep grabbing. He’s a grabber. But women knew this already, even before the audio tape came out with Billy Bush,” another viewer commented.
Some users zeroed in on Peña’s reaction instead.
“Like how hard the President of Paraguay pulls his hand back! A little harder and he could pull Trump off balance and pull him over,” one person wrote.
Others suggested the move simply doesn’t work like it once might have.
“Trump is too physically weak to pull this weak move anymore,” another commenter added.
The moment also revived memories of another time Trump publicly acknowledged the toll his constant handshaking had taken. During a White House event welcoming college baseball champions from Louisiana State University and LSU-Shreveport, the president joked about the physical strain of greeting athletes.
“They’re very strong hands, I’m noticing,” he said while greeting the players. “You know, they’re ripping me, they’re ripping my hand up!”
The remark came as he greeted LSU baseball player Steven Milam and former player Josh Pearson, both of whom offered firm handshakes of their own. Instead of dominating the interaction, Trump appeared to be the one reacting to the strength of the athletes standing in front of him.
Moments like that have added to a long list of occasions where the famous grip-and-pull doesn’t quite land the way it might have been intended, especially on other world leaders.
French President Emmanuel Macron famously pushed back during a 2017 greeting, gripping Trump’s hand just as firmly and refusing to release quickly, turning the moment into a visible stalemate.
Canadian then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also countered the move that same year, during Trump’s first administration, by bracing his shoulder and keeping a steady footing, preventing the yank that often catches others off guard.
Russian President Vladimir Putin similarly avoided engaging in the tugging dynamic during a greeting on an Alaskan tarmac, leaving the exchange unusually flat.
Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping appeared calm and unmoved during their meeting, with the handshake landing far less dramatically than Trump’s usual play.
For Trump, the handshake has always been more than a greeting.
It’s a performance meant to signal confidence before the first words of a meeting are even spoken. But as the encounter with Peña showed, that performance depends on the other person playing along.
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