**Breaking News Trump did not refuse to shake Merkel's hand: spokesman | Tv6 Updates

Trump did not refuse to shake Merkel's hand: spokesman

Donald Trump's spokesman denied that the US president refused to shake hands with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as they say in the White House last week.

"I think he did not hear the question" raised by Merkel when he suggested that they shake hands, in the face of the press cameras, spokesman Sean Spicer told the German weekly Der Spiegel published today.

The quote was translated into English from Der Spiegel's German online site.

The veteran German chancellor had arrived for her first meeting with Trump in a snowy White House in hopes of reversing a chill in relations after Trump's incendiary rhetoric, calling Merkel "a catastrophic error" and suggested she was "Ruining Germany."

Friday's visit began cordially, with the pair shaking hands at the entrance to the White House.
But later, sitting next to the Oval Office, Merkel's suggestion of another handshake was not heard or ignored by Trump - an awkward moment in what are often heavily scripted occasions.

The German media reported the incident as another sign of the general mood of the meeting between the cautious German chancellor and the impulsive US president.

At a frequently uncomfortable joint press conference in the East Hall, Trump and Merkel showed little common ground as they addressed a series of thorny issues, including NATO, defense spending and free trade agreements.

For most of the 30 minutes, Merkel was tough as Trump crashed in Washington NATO allies for not paying for his "fair share" of the transatlantic defense and demanded "fair trade and reciprocal" offers.

Today, Germany's largest newspaper, Bild, said that throughout the White House meeting, Trump did not meet his eyes.