President Donald Trump will avoid shaking hands with Cuban leader Raul Castro in the hopes of not repeating his predecessor, the White House told McClatchy DC on Friday.
Next week, Trump will make his first trip to Latin America as president to attend the Summit of the Americas in Lima, Peru, but the president's aides want to avoid a headline-making handshake like the one former President Barack Obama had with Castro in 2016.
"There are always bumps between all the leaders at the summit, but my expectation is that we will try to keep President Trump as far away as from leaders that don't share United States values and like-minded perspectives," a senior administration official told McClatchy.
Although Cuba has yet to officially confirm that Castro will be at the event, the Trump administration was told that Cuban officials RSVP'd with Peru. American officials expect Castro, who has announced that he will step down soon, to keep a low profile.
"Truthfully, this being Raul Castro's last hurrah, we expect he'll be relatively presidential in terms of his demeanor," a source told McClatchy. "He's not going to make a big show at the summit itself."
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