It wasn't innocent: Macron on white-knuckle handshake with Trump

French President Emmanuel Macron says his now famous white-knuckle handshake showdown with US counterpart Donald Trump was "a moment of truth" designed to show that he's no pushover.

Macron told a Sunday newspaper in France that "my handshake with him, it wasn't innocent." "One must show that you won't make small concessions, even symbolic ones, but also not over-publicise things, either," Macron added.

Macron's office confirmed to The Associated Press the veracity of the president's comments in Le Journal du Dimanche. At their first meeting, ahead of a NATO summit in Brussels on Thursday, the two men locked hands for so long that knuckles started turning white. The French leader held the shake for a few seconds more. Both men's jaws seemed to clenc