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Trump wipes ‘dandruff’ off visiting French President Macron

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/overseas/04/25/trump-rtr-2018-2018-042518.jpg"/><figcaption>French President Emmanuel Macron looks on as U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly flicks a bit of &quot;dandruff&quot; off his jacket during their meeting in the Oval Office following the official arrival ceremony for Macron at the White House in Washington, Tuesday. Kevin Lamarque, Reuters</figcaption></figure></div>President Donald Trump on Tuesday made a show of flicking dandruff from the suit collar of visiting French President Emmanuel Macron, saying it was a sign of the two leaders&#x27; &quot;very special relationship.&quot;Trump made the surprise gesture as Macron, the first foreign leader to be honored with a state visit in Washington since Trump took office 15 months ago, stood at his side for a photo opportunity in the White House&#x27;s Oval Office.&quot;We have a very special relationship, in fact I&#x27;ll get that little piece of dandruff off... We have to make him perfect, he is perfect,&quot; Trump said to a laughing Macron.Meanwhile, Trump pilloried the Iran nuclear deal as &quot;insane&quot; Tuesday and threatened &quot;problems&quot; if Tehran restarts controversial programs, exposing a deep rift with European allies. Hosting Macron in the Oval Office, Trump punctured a carefully choreographed display of trans-Atlantic camaraderie with an angry tirade against the three-year old nuclear accord.The US leader groused that the agreement -- inked by the United States, Iran, Europe, Russia and China -- does nothing to tackle Tehran&#x27;s ballistic missiles program or support for militant groups across the Middle East.&quot;People know my views on the Iran deal. It was a terrible deal. It should have never ever been made,&quot; Trump railed. &quot;It&#x27;s insane. It&#x27;s ridiculous.&quot;The agreement, still backed by Europe, gave Iran massive sanctions relief and the guarantee of a civilian nuclear program in return for curbs on programs that could be used to develop a nuke.It did not tackle western complains about Iran&#x27;s ballistic missile programs or support for militant groups across the Middle East.Trump faces a May 12 deadline to decide on the fate of the accord and is demanding changes that European capitals believe would represent a legal breach.Iran, meanwhile, has warned it will ramp up enrichment activities if Trump walks away from the accord, prompting Trump to issue a blunt warning.&quot;They&#x27;re not going to be restarting anything. If they restart it, they&#x27;re going to have big problems, bigger than they ever had before. And you can mark it down,&quot; he said.Macron is visiting Washington, in part, to convince Trump not to walk away from the deal and scuttle years-worth of hard won diplomatic gains.&quot;The Iran deal is an important issue but we have to take a far broader picture which is security in the overall region,&quot; he said Tuesday at the White House.&quot;What we want to do is to contain Iran and its presence in the region.&quot; For months American and European officials have been working behind the scenes to trying to find a compromise over Trump&#x27;s demands to change the agreement.Officials have toyed with the idea of a separate joint declaration: promising to tackle non-nuclear issues, while searching for a tougher successor agreement.The challenge, they say, is to find a solution that allows the mercurial US president to claim a public victory, while keeping the deal intact.More hawkish American officials accuse Europeans -- particularly Germany -- of putting business interests ahead of security, and of opposing a tougher stance against Iran to safeguard investments in the Islamic Republic.

Trump made the surprise gesture as Macron stood at his side for a photo opportunity in the White House's Oval Office.

Trump made the surprise gesture as Macron stood at his side for a photo opportunity in the White House's Oval Office.