Nearly every photo op that current president and noted meatloaf enthusiast Donald Trump has taken with other world leaders has somehow been embarrassing. Each of them acts as a sort of microcosm of the ongoing tragedy that the United States somehow elected a racist, incompetent bully and know-nothing to be our ambassador to the world.
Just yesterday, in a meet and greet with Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela, Trump brought up the only thing he could think of in relation to the country—the Panama Canal, constructed in 1914. In typical Trumpian logic, this was something he built, and for which Varela needed to show proper gratitude. “It’s doing quite well. We did a good job building it,” he said of the century-old structure, which has been owned and operated by the Panamanian government for almost 20 years, which Varela reminded the president of beneath his breath.
Trump then extended his hand for a shake which—when viewed at quarter-speed, as YouTube thankfully allows you to do—Varela yanks a solid 4 inches toward him. This, of course, is a reaction to Trump’s favorite tough-guy power move of yanking the damn arm off of anyone he meets, which world leaders have gradually gotten wise to and prepped for accordingly. Also of note in the video is the chilling Handmaid’s Tale-esque placements of their wives, but then, this was a macho pissing match between two world leaders, so of course it resembled an authoritarian dystopia.