President Barack Obama’s handshake with Cuban leader, Raul Castro at Nelson Mandela’s memorial in South Africa was a spontaneous gesture of greeting and went no further than pleasantries, a White House aide said on Tuesday.
“Nothing was planned in terms of the president’s role other than his remarks,” Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters traveling with Obama.
“He really didn’t do more than exchange greetings with those leaders on his way to speak, it wasn’t a substantive discussion.”