Well, in comments to a French newspaper on Sunday, Macron explained that it was deliberate - a way for him to show Trump that he couldn't be rolled over.
French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed that there was indeed a deeper significance to the prolonged handshake he shared with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump in Brussels.
The shake lasted over 5.2 seconds and included an unsuccessful attempt by Trump at one point to release himself from his counterpart's grasp.
I was among the journalists, politicians, philanthropists and think tankers who gathered at the Kalorama neighborhood manse to participate in a conversation co-hosted by the Atlantic on the rise of populism in Western liberal democracies.
The American President makes sure to meet at least one new leader every two or three weeks so he can add a new handshake to his constantly expanding collection of awkward but well-documented handshakes.
The two leaders gripped each other's hands so tightly their knuckles started turning white and their jaws seemed to clench in front of the media last week in Brussels before a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit.
The setting for a rematch was an outdoor photo op of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation leaders.
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Police are yet to confirm Mr Hao's identity, but Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton said the man was recently married and a father. Police on June 5, 2017 , shot dead Yacqub Khayre (pic) after he held a woman hostage inside an apartment building in Melbourne .
Trump's handshakes are fraught with drama. "It's not the be-all and end-all of a policy, but it was a moment of truth." .
Images from the photo session at the USA ambassador's residence in Brussels showed Trump finally giving up, his fingers loosened while Macron is still holding on tightly. His overlong clinch with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe became a meme when Trump refused to allow Abe to slip from his grasp.
A White House summary of the meeting did not mention climate change but said Trump had urged France to meet the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation target of spending 2 percent of GDP on defense and to ensure that North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was focused on counterterrorism.
It seems Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau got off lightly with his "nothing-to-see-here" handshake.
It would appear Trump's favorite display of dominance only works when he has the element of surprise, as physically overpowering a 70-year-old man who can't be bothered to walk down the street is not a challenging task for most. Quite literally, Trump likes to have the upper hand.
"Macron is literally crushing Trump's hand in the battle of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation handshakes".
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