Donald Trump ‘Shoves’ a PM at NATO Photo-op and Twitter Goes Wild

New Delhi: US President Donald Trump found himself as the subject of Twitter humour again when he seemed to push aside the prime minister of soon-to-be NATO member Montenegro during a photo-op of leaders of member nations.

The incident took place at the brand-new NATO headquarters in Brussels where Trump was walking with other leaders. In an apparent attempt to be at the centre of the group photograph, the US President “pushed” Prime Minister Dusko Markovic aside and stood in front, just in time for the photo-op.

President Trump appears to move aside the prime minister of Montenegro while at a NATO summit in Belgium https://t.co/TXLE34HocN pic.twitter.com/IkRO6b72s0 — CNN (@CNN) May 25, 2017

Video of the incident spread on social networks in multiple languages. “It seems Donald Trump did not want that anyone overshadows his presence at the summit,” said the Montenegro newspaper Vijesti.

Other Balkan websites ran headlines such as “America First” and “Where do you think you are going?”

Markovic himself, however, shrugged off the slight. “It didn’t really register. I just saw reactions about it on social networks. It is simply a harmless situation,” he told reporters after the summit.

Twitter, however, was not so forgiving, with Harry Potter author JK Rowling leading the pack.

You tiny, tiny, tiny little man.

pic.twitter.com/mP3mad6cMt — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 25, 2017

Did Trump just shove another NATO leader to be in the front of the group? pic.twitter.com/bL1r2auELd — Steve Kopack (@SteveKopack) May 25, 2017

No silly. That’s just a ‘locker room’ shove. Nothing Trump does is offensive if you put ‘locker room’ in front of it. https://t.co/O92qRyvvnm — FrugalistaBlog (@frugieblog) May 25, 2017

Honestly, the best part is Trump fixing his coat and doing that chin-in-the-air thing he does after the shove. https://t.co/PWknhEZolH — Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) May 25, 2017

Trump truly taking “America First” to heart – willing to literally push aside world leaders to stand in front. https://t.co/L4UEcZExjK — Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) May 25, 2017

A parody account of Donald Trump also had a take on the incident.

I HAD TO shove the leader of Montenegro to be in front during our NATO meeting lunch break. I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN first in line for any buffet. pic.twitter.com/saE1QhJFry — Donald J. Trump (@RealDonaldTrFan) May 25, 2017

The shoving comes hours after the power struggle handshake between Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron, just before the NATO summit was set to start. The two leaders sat down for a talk and as is customary, the press got to take a few photos first. And then this happened…

President Trump and newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron exchanged a white-knuckled handshake https://t.co/GPAU9kr3JV pic.twitter.com/ceHBPsYNK9 — CNN (@CNN) May 26, 2017

First Published: May 26, 2017, 8:36 AM IST

Source: News18