Donald Trump and Angela Merkel's photo op wins for awkwardness

2025-04-28 09:37:09admin

Fifty nine seconds is just shy of one minute, but if you're spending those fifty nine seconds in a photo op with President Donald Trump, they could very well seem infinite.

At the White House on Friday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel had the misfortune of learning this first hand, and as a result, we now have a video that could easily win an award for the most uncomfortable interaction in history.

SEE ALSO: Amazingly, Donald Trump still doesn't know how to shake a hand

After meeting with Merkel and several German business leaders on Friday, as is customary with White House guests, Trump and the Chancellor posed for some photographs.

Now usually this is the time when Trump entraps his guests in one of his infamously uncomfortable, ridiculously lingering handshakes ... but Merkel was in for something far, far worse.

Here's how things played out:

Trump and Merkel were sitting next to each other in chairs, posing for a photo op in complete silence.

Sitting.

Sittttttttting.

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Still sitting OMG. (And like, not even posing or smiling, just casually sitting.)

Luckily, Trump knows every good host should take active steps to ensure guests don't feel awkward, so he finally cut through the silence with some expert small talk.

Trump:"Send a good picture back to Germany, please. Make sure."

After the tension levels in the room reached knife-cutting level, a photographer chimed in and attempted to save the moment.

Unfortunately, the president wasn't feeling very chatty.

Photographer: "How did your talk go, Mr. President?"

Trump:"Very good."

Photographer:Did you discuss NATO?

Trump: *nods* "Many things."

After some more sitting, Merkel must have come to the realization that the photographs taken during these painful moments would all look remarkably similar. She kindly asked Trump if he wanted to switch up the pose and willingly offered to engage in a Trump handshake, for the sake of the moment. However, Trump straight-up ignored her, clapping his own hands together and officially killing any chance of salvaging this interaction.