President Trump said Friday he would stay for "hours" to shake hands with all graduating seniors at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

Trump closed his address to graduates by asking them to weigh in on whether or not he should stay.

"I was given an option. I could make this commencement address, which is a great honor for me, and immediately leave and wave goodbye. Or I could stay and shake hands with just the top 100. Or I could stay for hours and shake hands with 1,100 and something. What should I do? What should I do?" he asked.

"I'll stay," he exclaimed to applause. "I'll stay."

Time for hand-shaking appeared to be built into Trump's schedule. White House press guidance said he would leave the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium at 12:50 p.m., nearly two hours after he finished speaking.

[Related: Trump touts US military might in Naval Academy commencement speech: 'America is back']



Trump: "I could make this commencement address ... and immediately leave and wave goodbye ... Or I could stay for hours and shake hands with 1,100 and something. What should I do? What should I do? I'll stay, I'll stay!" pic.twitter.com/qsJ220pnHW — Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) May 25, 2018



A spokesman for the Naval Academy told the Washington Examiner that 1,042 students are graduating on Friday, the majority of whom attended the ceremony.

Although an impressive feat of hand-shaking stamina, Trump's celebratory gesture likely won't make it into the record books.

On Jan. 1, 1907, President Teddy Roosevelt claimed a long-held world record, shaking hands with 8,513 people at a New Year's event in Washington.

Roosevelt held a Guinness world record until July 1977, when Atlantic City mayor Joseph Lazarow shook 8,514 hands from a motorcycle sidecar.