New pictures showing Donald Trump sitting in the Oval Office in front of major world leaders has been criticized as an "embarrassing" power play by the president, in what should have been a display of global unity.
Some on social media noted that the set up, with Trump behind the Resolute Desk and his European counterparts on chairs opposite him, presented the president as hosting a bunch of “unruly schoolchildren.”
The president was joined for the photo-op by leaders including British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, French president Emmanual Macron, German Chancellor Freidrich Merz, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni and Finnish president Alexander Stubb.
Also in attendance were European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Another photo showed a smiling Trump posing with a new golf club, gifted to him by Zelensky.
However, the meeting of the circled leaders drew the ire of social media users, with some commenting that the staging and White House mantra of of “peace through strength” was “deeply disrespectful to U.S. history itself.”
“Permenant peace is never truly obtained through strength. It may hold for a while under pressure, but it won’t last,” wrote one user.
“What a breathtakingly rude, narcissistic asshole,” another said. “Instead of a conference table where everyone can meet equally, Chump lined them up like unruly school children in a row with himself as the authority figure. Chump can just f*** all the way off.”
Others questioned how the leaders, who came to Washington D.C. as “equals” had allowed such a belittling set up.
“Embarrassing,” wrote one user, with another going further, writing “I cannot believe they let Trump seat them like a bunch of schoolchildren.
“Do none of these ‘leaders’ have any testosterone whatsoever or PR teams that can approve/reject seating arrangements. Most embarrassing thing I’ve ever seen for the EU.”
