Donald Trump botches ‘Asean handshake’, forgets to cross arms during carefully choreographed photo call in Manila

The handshake chain is a set piece of gatherings of the Asean, who are meeting with leaders from China, the US, Russia, New Zealand, Australia, India, Canada, Japan and South Korea

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US President Donald Trump registers his surprise as he realises other leaders, including Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte and Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, are crossing their arms for the traditional ‘Asean handshake’. Photo: Reuters

Published: 3:00pm, 13 Nov 2017Updated: 5:25pm, 13 Nov 2017

Donald Trump was all fingers and thumbs during a carefully choreographed photo of Monday at a summit of world leaders, failing to grasp whose hands he was supposed to be holding and breaking a line-up intended to showcase unity.

Trump, whose insurgent election victory was built on his willingness to disrupt political convention, was supposed to cross his arms and join hands with the men on either side of him.

But as others clutched the hands of the person to their left and their right, Trump used both of his hands to clasp the extended fingers of Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

US President Donald Trump registers his surprise as he realises other leaders, including Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte, are crossing their arms for the traditional ‘Asean handshake’. Photo: Reuters

The doubling up left summit host Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte with a spare hand – and broke the line into two parts.

The handshake chain is a set piece of gatherings of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), who are meeting with leaders from China, the US, Russia, New Zealand, Australia, India, Canada, Japan and South Korea.