Donald Trump and France’s newly elected young President Emmanuel Macron, exchanged an awkward power handshake at their first face-to-face meeting in Brussels on Thursday.

“Each president gripped the other’s hand with considerable intensity, their knuckles turning white and their jaws clenching and faces tightening,” according to a report by the White House correspondents’ pool.

Philip Rucker of the Washington Post said: “Trump tried twice to release and Macron held on tight… It was quite a handshake, two alphas.”