President Donald Trump’s latest Asia tour was supposed to reassert his strength on the world stage. Instead, it ended as a spectacle of awkward moments and mounting embarrassment that left him publicly snubbed, visibly frustrated, and later taking out his anger on an easy target.
What began as a carefully staged show of confidence quickly unraveled into a series of forced smiles, rambling remarks, and televised missteps that stripped away any sense of control.
One turning point came in South Korea, ahead of his first in-person meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in six years.
Cameras caught Trump waiting awkwardly as Xi kept him standing before a lukewarm handshake that dragged on uncomfortably.
He giggled again, calling Xi “a very tough negotiator — that’s not good,” while continuing to cling to his hand. “We know each other well,” he added, as Xi offered little more than a polite nod.
When Trump finally tried to move things along — gesturing “Let’s go” — Xi ignored him. Moments later, Trump asked aloud, “Which way?” before aides stepped in to guide them offstage. His final wave toward Xi went unanswered.
It was a brief exchange, but it captured everything: a self-proclaimed dealmaker suddenly unsure, left performing confidence that no one — least of all Xi — seemed to buy.
“Absolutely brutal stuff. How embarrassing,” one X user posted, while others noted Trump’s jittery body language.
“Creepy old Trump. A national disgrace,” former Florida City Councilman Harold Byrd Jr. posted on X.
Other comments zeroed in on Xi’s reaction, “Just look at Xi’s face…..,” and others ranged from “Trump talks way too much…,” “his hand shake is sooo cringy,” to “God help us all.”
But the humiliation didn’t end there — it just moved to primetime.
Comedian Seth Meyers roasted Trump’s Asia performance on Late Night, mocking both his rambling catapult speech and his desperate attempts to look presidential abroad.
“Forget the government shutdown — it’s catapult time!” Meyers quipped, playing clips of Trump ranting about “stupid electric catapults” on aircraft carriers.
“Guy spends more time thinking about catapults than Wile E. Coyote,” Meyers joked. “In Trump’s America, we used to strap our soldiers to the rockets, and they loved it — but then everything got woke!”
He later added, “Experts say it would cost billions to go back to the old system, but Trump thinks he knows more about aviation than everyone else because he dances like one of those guys with the runway signal sticks.”
Trump watched in fury and didn’t find it funny. Within hours, he erupted on Truth Social — posting a furious rant that called Meyers “the least talented person to ‘perform’ live in the history of television” and “a truly deranged lunatic.”
He complained that Meyers “may be the WORST to perform, live or otherwise” before signing off with a classic overreaction and overreach, “Why does NBC waste its time and money on a guy like this??? – NO TALENT, NO RATINGS, 100% ANTI TRUMP, WHICH IS PROBABLY ILLEGAL!!!”
Social media had a field day.
“He sounded like a deranged lunatic, talking on and on about catapults,” he said with literally no self-awareness whatsoever” observed one user on Threads.
Another added, “Aww, poor ickle tangerine head didn’t like Seth laughing at him. Bwess. Personally, I thought it was hilarious.😁”
View on Threads
“The worst detractor to Trump is Trump himself! Everytime he opens his mouth he compromises himself with all the bullshit, lies and complete nonsense!” said another.
And even as Trump raged online as footage from his trip went viral, his Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt tried to salvage the optics, hailing the trip as “historic” and claiming it “resulted in more peace deals, trade deals, and investments pouring into our country.”
But that brag quickly fell apart too when NBC News reported that no final trade agreements were signed — just a temporary truce on rare-earth mineral controls.
And social media called Leavitt out over her disingenuous post.
“If ‘historic’ means more photo ops than policy, then sure. No verified peace deals were signed, trade imbalances remain, and the fentanyl crisis continues to worsen. Standing up for America means delivering measurable results, not headlines and handshakes,” this X user corrected Leavitt.
Another X user also called out Leavitt, “More peace deals? The man has yet to strike ONE peace deal ffs! It was just more … stroking of a bully on the taxpayers dime while the government remains closed. He should have stayed here to negotiate reopening the government.”
The meltdown cemented what critics had already seen on the world stage: a president who came to project strength and left looking small.
