United States President George Bush hosted German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday for talks and a dinner to work out the kinks in transatlantic relations — but not any knots in her shoulders.
“No back rubs,” Bush joked as he and his guest wrapped up a joint public appearance, an apparent reference to the awkward scene when he briefly massaged her back at the July 2006 summit of the Group of Eight industrialised nations.
A five-second video and a frame-by-frame breakdown widely disseminated on the internet showed Bush walking up behind Merkel and quickly rubbing her shoulders, leading her to hunch them and raise her hands while making a pained face that seems to dissolve in a smile as he walks away. — AFP