Photo shows Donald Trump refusing to shake hands with Justin Trudeau.
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President Donald Trump shakes hands with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the G-7 summit on June 8, 2018, in Charlevoix, Canada. (AP)
Claim misleads on handshake between Trump and Trudeau
If Your Time is short
• Video and still photos from the 2018 meeting show that then-President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shook hands.
A picture is worth a thousand words, the saying goes, but sometimes sussing out the truth on social media requires a series of photos.
A Feb. 20 photo posted on Facebook — that shows former President Donald Trump staring at Justin Trudeau’s outstretched hand with a grimace — suggests that Trump was refusing to shake hands with the Canadian leader. A text overlay reads, "Trump knew," and the caption says, "One of my favorite photos of all time! Gotta love Trump."
The post was shared by Ryan Fournier, founder and co-chairman of Students for Trump. It was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
The photo is real, but it was taken a second before the two leaders shook hands. Video and still photos of the 2018 meeting show the entirety of the encounter, including the handshake.
The encounter occurred when Trump and Trudeau were attending the Group of Seven summit in Quebec in June 2018. In this video of their meeting, at the 4-second mark, Trump quickly looked at Trudeau’s outstretched hand. Then at the 5-second mark, the two shook hands.
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Many people commenting on the Facebook post believed that Trump had actually rebuffed Trudeau, and that he did so because he is a good judge of character. "It's amazing that Trump could spot a Tyrant before before such Tyrant even showed his true colors --- truely amazing," one person wrote. Another said, "I love that. He knows evil when he sees it."
In recent weeks, Trudeau’s political opponents have called him a dictator because he invoked Canada’s Emergencies Act to deal with blockades by people protesting COVID-19 restrictions and mandates.
When Trump was in office, it was not uncommon for him to look uncomfortable when shaking hands with world leaders, as was documented in a 2019 USA Today photo gallery titled "President Donald Trump: Awkward handshakes with world leaders." Trump is a self-described "germaphobe" and has called shaking hands "barbaric."
But he did shake hands with Trudeau.
We rate the Facebook post Pants on Fire!
Our Sources
Canadian Broadcasting Corp. News, "The federal government has invoked the Emergencies Act. Here's what that means," Feb. 14, 2022
European Council, "The Charlevoix G7 Summit Communique," June 9, 2018
Facebook post, Feb. 20, 2022
New Yorker, "Why Justin Trudeau Is Able to Stand Up to Donald Trump," June 13, 2018
PolitiFact, "Ryan Fournier," accessed Feb. 21, 2022
The Week, "Canada’s conservative lawmakers call Trudeau ‘dictator’ as he defends his emergency declaration in Parliament," Feb. 17, 2022
USA Today, "President Donald Trump: Awkward handshakes with world leaders," Dec. 4, 2019
Washington Post, "Shaking hands is ‘barbaric’: Donald Trump, the germaphobe in chief," Jan. 12, 2017
YouTube, CTV News, "’Our relationship is very good:’ Trudeau, Trump joke at G7," June 9, 2018
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Claim misleads on handshake between Trump and Trudeau
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