But then, later that day: was that a …? A bow? Surely not, some insisted, after watching Trump bend his knees, slump forward and bob his head to let King Salman place the honorary collar of Saudi Arabia's founder around his neck. He's just "bending over," one supported suggested.

"He's receiving an award." "More of a squat than a bow." The White House did not immediately respond when asked if Trump had softened his position on bowing, after criticising Obama about it on more than one occasion. Whatever he was doing with the king, Trump appears to have left his Washington troubles only to walk into the same quagmire of diplomatic body language as so many presidents past.

Trump sure wouldn't, at least, as he made clear on Twitter several times before his presidential campaign. And during it. Many observers could not resist a superficial comparison to the past when he began his foreign tour.

"Trump shakes hands with Saudi leader, doesn't bow as Obama appeared to do," as Fox News put it. "How Trump just greeted Saudi Arabia's king is remarkably different than how Obama did in 2009," the Blaze remarked, noting that Trump shook the king's hand (though Obama has done that too) and his wife did not wear a hijab (neither did Michelle Obama.) But on the homepage of the Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat, and the snarky feeds of many Trump critics, focused on a different picture. And while some insisted Trump's little dip could not compare to his predecessor's manifold acts of humility, one of the president's top political backers made no excuses:

In fact, Trump bowed no more or less than other presidents who have worn the collar of Abdulaziz al-Saud, which the kingdom bestows as an honour on foreign dignitaries. Trump did it. Obama did it. Bush did it. And — at the risk of recalling that other great controversy — Russian President Vladmir Putin did it too.

There was no sign any of this was clouding Trump's trip. On the same morning of his upright handshake and maybe-bow, he took part in another long tradition of American officials on trips abroad: Loading Stilted dancing. Washington Post