Would you shake hands?

#255

My Dear Friend of Democracy,

Have you seen Donald Trump at the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris?

All eyes on him, chatting, laughing, grinning, shaking hands with all the other global leaders. And I wondered what I would do if I met Donald Trump. Would I shake his hand? Would I take his hand if he offered it to me?

What would you do?

Would you shake the hand of the (soon to be) most powerful man in the world, the president of the oldest democracy, the man who is everything democracies have to fear?

I hope I wouldn't.

At least not in a way that gives the impression that you are good friends.

When I look at the pictures of politicians shaking hands with Trump, I get the feeling that they are becoming part of him; they agree with him in a certain way, as if they can no longer escape this person who may have many things on his mind but one of them is certainly not to protect the powerful democracy of the USA. Shouldn’t you distance yourself as much as possible from such a person?

✊ Heads of state should always be open to meetings and discussions, and this includes polite manners. Private individuals, however, do not have this task. Refusing to shake hands would be a sign that you have some power, even over the most powerful man in the world, namely power over your own behaviour.

See you in Europe,

Johannes