“A handshake is a short ritual in which two people grasp one of each other’s hands, in most cases accompanied by a brief up and down movement (of the grasped hands.)”

How is it that Donald Trump can screw something up as common as a handshake? Well, he can and no-one, it appears, has taught him how to do it properly. Shaking another person’s hand is just another item on the long list of things that Trump can’t get right. As he blunders his way across the Middle East and Europe, the media is having a field day with his wayward body language, verbal gaffes and amateurism. And why not? The man is utterly utterly unqualified for the role of President of the USA. As are his family members. To call him an aberration is an understatement.

Kudos to President Emmanuel Macron for suavely controlling the clench.

It is not forgotten that during France’s April election, Trump supported Marine Le Pen and her National Front party. “Congratulations, great job!” he said to Macron at their sit-down.

In one video, we watch how he literally elbows his way toward the front of the group, shoving aside Dusko Markovic, the prime minister of Montenegro. Once there, he stretches out his neck like a rooster before peevishly peering down at Lithuanian President, Dalia Grybauskaitė. He’s a joke, and no-one can take him seriously. (The joke here in France is that Emmanuel Macron speaks better English than he does.) I can imagine Trump’s staff showing him large maps of the regions he is visiting. “Now, see this little country wedged in between France, Germany and Holland? That’s Belgium, its capital is Brussels, and it’s where we’re going next.”

Before becoming President, Trump called Brussels “a living hell-hole” because of Muslims living there.

When world leaders talk to him about global issues, what on earth does he say? He’s a real estate developer! On the other hand, if anyone wants advice on tax breaks, he’s your man.

From The New York Times –

“Trump’s New York career: He used his father’s, and, later, his own, extensive political connections, and relied on a huge amount of assistance from the government and taxpayers in the form of tax breaks, grants and incentives to benefit the 15 buildings at the core of his Manhattan real estate empire.”

“Since then, Mr. Trump has reaped at least $885 million in tax breaks, grants and other subsidies for luxury apartments, hotels and office buildings in New York, according to city tax, housing and finance records. The subsidies helped him lower his own costs and sell apartments at higher prices because of their reduced taxes. “Donald Trump is probably worse than any other developer in his relentless pursuit of every single dime of taxpayer subsidies he can get his paws on.””

UPDATE – Just how much of a thuggish asshole is he? Speaking at the G7 meeting in Sicily today, Donald Trump called the victory of Greg Gianfortea “a great win in Montana” just one day after Gianforte was slapped with an assault charge for body-slamming a Guardian reporter.