[h=1]It's casual Friday! Trump and Putin shake hands as they continue tradition started by Bill Clinton by wearing traditional Vietnamese silk shirts at APEC conference[/h]
It's a tradition for host countries to choose matching garments for world leaders to wear at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit
This year the Vietnamese picked a blue silk shirt, and Donald Trump ditched his signature suit and tie in favor of the traditional garment
Past years have seen presidents and prime ministers endure Chilean ponchos, Indonesian batik shirts and Chinese jackets that looked like Star Trek uniforms
Trump and Vladimir Putin shook hands as the 'family photo' was taken with more than 20 heads of state
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin shook hands Friday in Da Nang, Vietnam as participants in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit met for a group photo. The two presidents stood next to each other and waved at onlookers as shutters snapped. Like every other world leader in attendance, Trump and Putin continued one of the annual summit's odder traditions, ditching neckties and dark suits in favor of matching blue silk shirts. Trump is rarely photographed in anything other than a suit or a golf shirt.
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Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin shook hands Friday in Vietnam at the APEC summit while both were wearing the now-traditional strange shirts which mark the meeting
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It was their first in-person meeting since July in Hamburg, Germany at the G20 summit
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Wave for the cameras: Trump and Putin took part in a 'family photo' of Asia Pacific leaders with Trump looking cheerier than his Russian counterpart
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Gang's all here: The line-up of leaders includes Trump and Putin and (rear, third from left) Canada's Justin Trudeau and (front, sixth from left) China's president Xi Jinping
Happy time: The leaders waved for the cameras after the more formal pose
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Trump ditched his usual suit and tie in favor of a traditional Vietnamese 'ao dai' shirt, chosen by the host country's president Trần Đại Quang (center)
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I'm in Vietnam: Trump was greeted by Trần Đại Quang and his wife Nguyễn Thị Hiền, the Vietnamese president and first lady
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High-five: Vladimir Putin exchanged a hand-to-hand greeting with Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski
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Different timing: Putin managed a solo wave during the family photo session
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Hello neighbor: Trump was photographed next to Enrique Peña Nieto, the president of Mexico, with whom he has had a prickly relationship
Every president and prime minister at the Da Nang event played along, although Putin upstaged Trump by wearing a dress shirt and tie that was visible underneath his traditional 'ao dai.' Trump, like everyone else, went open-neck casual. Vietnam President Trần Đại Quang's team chose the garments, a privilege of host countries that dates back to Bill Clinton at the 1993 APEC summit in Seattle. That year Clinton gave heads of state matching leather bomber jackets, and some actually wore them. A year later Indonesia picked up the idea, asking participants to wear traditional patterned batik shirts that some in the U.S. compared to 1960s upholstery. It could have been worse for Trump: George W. Bush chuckled along with the crowd as he posed in a red woven Chilean poncho in 2008 at the APEC arrival ceremony. And in Australia the year before, outback raincoats were the order of the day.
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Informal talks: Trump speaks to Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (right), Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto (second left), New Zealand's prime minister Jacinda Ardern (left) and Chile's President Michelle Bachelet (back to camera) on the sidelines
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Talks: Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto spoke to Trump as they got together for the official 'family photo'
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Toast: Vietnam's President Trần Đại Quang raised his glass to Trump at the summit leaders gala dinner in Danang. Also on the table were Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha (beside Trump), his wife Naraporn (to his life), Taiwan's representative James Soong (fourth from right) and Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (fifth from right).
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Somber: Vladimir Putin appeared chillier than other leaders after the family photo was taken
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Greeting: Trần Đại Quang, Vietnam's president, welcomes New Zealand's prime minister Jacinda Ardern to her first APEC summit
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New member of the club: Newly-elected New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Arden and Trần Đại Quang, Vietnam's president, and first lady Nguyễn Thị Hiền
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Pacific rim neighbors: Trần Đại Quang, Vietnam's president, welcomed Malcolm Turnbull, Australia's prime minister to the gala dinner
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Buttoned up: Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister., opted to use the top button on the traditional shirt as he met Trần Đại Quang and Vietnam's first lady Nguyễn Thị Hiền
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Maritime nations: Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his wife Ho Ching were welcomed by Trần Đại Quang, Vietnam's president, and first lady Nguyễn Thị Hiền
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Change of tone: Aung San Suu Kyi was greeted by Trần Đại Quang, Vietnam's president, and first lady Nguyễn Thị Hiền
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Toast for the leaders: China's president Xi Jinping and Vietnam's president Trần Đại Quang raised glasses at the summit, while (center) Peru's President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and his wife Nancy Lange raise their glasses too
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Warm greeting: Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Trần Đại Quang, Vietnam's president
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More somber tone: Putin did not smile as he posed with Trần Đại Quang, Vietnam's president, and first lady Nguyễn Thị Hiền
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Meet the strongman: Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte poses with Trần Đại Quang, Vietnam's president, and first lady Nguyễn Thị Hiền
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Distant neighbors: Chile's president Michelle Bachelet is greeted by Trần Đại Quang, Vietnam's president, and first lady Nguyễn Thị Hiền
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No Mexican wave: Enrique Peña Nieto Mexico's president, kept his hands at his side as he met Trần Đại Quang, Vietnam's president, and first lady Nguyễn Thị Hiền
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Pacific concerns: Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister, stood in front of the entrance sign with Trần Đại Quang, Vietnam's president, and first lady Nguyễn Thị Hiền
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Near neighbors: Thailand's prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his wife Naraporn are greeted by Trần Đại Quang, Vietnam's president, and first lady Nguyễn Thị Hiền
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Royal presence: Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah meets Trần Đại Quang, Vietnam's president, and first lady Nguyễn Thị Hiền
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Hands across the ocean: Peru's President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and his wife Nancy Lange meet with Trần Đại Quang, Vietnam's president, and first lady Nguyễn Thị Hiền
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Could have been worse: In 2004 George W. Bush played along as Chile's leaders asked everyone to wear traditional woven ponchos
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Bill Clinton gave presidents and prime ministers bomber jackets like his (pictured) in 1993
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Indonesia's revenge: Clinton's jackets gave President Suharto (3rd from left) the idea of asking everyone to wear batik shirts, and the tradition was born
Putin and Barack Obama were the only leaders since Clinton's launch to take a break from the tradition. Obama told world leaders in Hawaii six years ago that they didn't have to play along. Days after joking that he might pass out 'flowered shirts and grass skirts,' Obama explained that he 'I got rid of the Hawaiian shirts because I looked at pictures of some of the previous APEC meetings and some of the garb that had appeared previously, and I thought this may be a tradition that we might want to break,' 'I suggested to leaders – we gave them a shirt, and if they wanted to wear the shirt, I promise you it would have been fine. But I didn't hear a lot of complaints about us breaking precedent on that one.' In 2014 he endured a wine-colored jacket in China that drew comparisons to Captain Jean-Luc Picard's uniform in 'Star Trek: The New Generation.'
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The matching-clothes tradition at APEC summits hasn't always worked out for U.S. presidents; in 2014 Barack Obama participated, earning comparisons with Captain Picard from 'Star Trek'
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Last year in Peru the APEC leaders wore matching wool shawls, a more subtle choice than in most other years
The White House said as President Trump arrived in Vietnam on Friday that a highly anticipated formal meeting between him and his Russian counterpart would not be on either leader's schedule. 'Regarding a Putin meeting, there was never a meeting confirmed, and there will not be one that takes place due to scheduling conflicts on both sides,' Trump's press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters aboard Air Force One. 'There is no formal meeting or anything scheduled for them.' 'Now, they’re going to be in the same place,' she allowed. 'Are they going to bump into each other and say hello? Certainly possible and likely.' 'But in terms of a scheduled, formal meeting, there’s not one on the calendar and we don’t anticipate that there will be one,' Sanders said.
