It’s pretty safe to say that the impeachment inquiry into President Trump’s phone call with the Ukrainian president and the alleged attempt to cover it up has taken over the news cycle.
Which must be uncomfortable for any foreign leader or representative visiting him right now. So, of course, people were watching Sauli Niinistö, the President of Finland, closely during his sit down and press conference with Trump.
RELATED STORIES
Any world leader would probably find it tough to keep their cool in that situation.
It’s pretty awkward to be part of a joint event where everyone is so focused on the other guy.
For the most part, Niinistö played it pretty cool.
It seemed as though the entire ordeal would be kept oddly professional…that is until people on Twitter quickly caught onto Niinistö’s expressive face.
The moment that has garnered the most commentary is Niinistö’s reaction to Trump touching his knee.
The whole thing occurred when a reporter asked Trump what the US could learn from Finland, which has been named the happiest country in the world for the last two years.
“Finland is a happy country,” Trump replied as he reached over to pat Niinistö’s knee.
Niinistö very quickly raised his hand in a shooing motion as though to swat the hand away.
Things got awkward REAL quick.
Though Trump’s hand was already moving, Niinistö’s expression definitely indicated that he wasn’t into the touching. He also appears to tell Trump to stop.
That’s a whole lot of ‘no thanks’ written on that man’s face.
I love how politics used to be about spouting vague coverups and maintaining a solid poker face and has since become a giant round of that game ‘try not to laugh’ that we all played at church camp.
Plenty of memes and jokes began to appear online, including a pretty good one from a parody account for actor Robert De Niro.
Some also noted that Finnish culture tends towards personal boundaries and casual touching such as a pat on the knee from someone you aren’t close with wouldn’t be appreciated.
To be fair though, wouldn’t we all react like that?
That’s a “when you’re 20 minutes into the date and he mentions that his Ex ‘was a psycho'” facial expression.
That’s a “when you’re halfway through Thanksgiving dinner and drunk uncle Joey arrives and says ‘where’s my hug?'” facial expression. Y’all know .
Has Trump STILL not learned not to grab things that aren’t his?
I hate to say it, but I suspect that there’s only more awkwardness from here on out folks. This is likely just the beginning.
