The greeting was contrasted by an altogether more enthusiastic moment between Melania Trump and Justin Trudeau, which soon got Twitter talking
The pair, who have had a frosty relationship in the past, appeared to be on friendlier terms when they met at the G7 summit in Biarritz, France, yesterday.
They were part of a line up of world leaders that included Boris Johnson and Canada’s Justin Trudeau, all posing on stage for the traditional ‘family photo’.
But as various leaders were greeting each other, cameras snapped the US president leaning in for a peck with the German chancellor.
While Trump closes both his eyes, Merkel keeps hers wide open, albeit with a smirk.
The snapshot was noticeably different to a moment captured between Trump’s wife Melania and Trudeau, with the former appearing to gaze at the Canadian Prime Minister with some enthusiasm.
The picture certainly didn’t escape Twitter’s notice with the hashtag #MelaniaLovesTrudeau proving popular.
While there were no kisses between Trump and Johnson, the two right wing leaders certainly appeared to get along well at the event.
The British Prime Minister described the US president as being “very gung-ho” about a major UK-US trade deal after the pair had their first formal meeting.
The Tory was praised by the US President as the “right man for the job” of delivering Brexit and was promised a “very big trade deal” as the pair met at the summit.
But Mr Johnson played down the prospects of a transatlantic deal being concluded within a year, as he believes Washington wants.
He warned that a deal with the “protectionist” US would not be “plain sailing”.
