A CRUSHING DISDAIN? LET’S SHAKE ON IT

Red, white and blue: Macron and Trump shake hands yesterday

THEY are in London for crunch talks – and it seems discussions between Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron were exactly that yesterday.

Both were left with white knuckles and painful-looking red skin after apparently crushing each other’s fingers during a handshake.

Earlier in the day, the US President had savaged his French counterpart, accusing Mr Macron of being ‘nasty’ after he claimed last month that Nato was ‘brain dead’.

Launching his tirade on the first day of the Nato summit, he said he thought Mr Macron had been ‘very disrespectful’ to other alliance members. ‘I think that’s very insulting... a very, very nasty statement,’ he said at the US ambassador’s residence,

Winfield House. ‘Nobody needs Nato more than France... the US benefits the least. It’s a very dangerous statement for them to make.’

He also reeled off a string of insults against France, saying: ‘I think they have a very high unemployment rate in France. France is not doing well economically at all. They have had a very rough year. ’

Mr Trump denied that the US alliance with Nato was shaky, but said: ‘I do see France breaking off.’

Mr Trump and Mr Macron later held a joint press conference where they sparred in front of reporters over Turkey’s future in Nato.

The pair’s vigorous handshake was also noted in 201 , when Mr Macron said it was designed to show that he was not a pushover.