Former White House Photographer Trolling Trump With Pictures of the Obamas Holding Hands

Barack Obama's former photographer is trolling Donald Trump with pictures of the Obamas holding hands and looking like a happy couple.

Pete Souza, who was the chief official White House photographer for President Obama and the director of the White House photo office, posted a picture of Barack and Michelle Obama on his instagram feed with the caption #holdinghands.

Although to most this may have appeared innocuous, it came shortly after footage emerged of President Donald Trump appearing to have his hand swiped away by his wife Melania as they arrived at Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel on 22 May.

Trump appears to be reaching for his wife's hand before she looks like she is swatting it away, and the pair was filmed in a similar situation in Rome, when Melania moved her hand to tuck her hair behind her ear just as Trump reached for her it.

More than 200,000 people liked Souza's post, with one person commenting underneath the picture: "You are savage with the shade. Keep it coming!"

View this post on Instagram

Holding hands.

A post shared by Pete Souza (@petesouza) on

It is not the first time the photographer has trolled the Trumps.

Following reports of fractious phone calls between Trump and the leaders of Australia and Mexico, Souza shared a picture he had taken of Obama joking around with them.

And in the lead-up to Trump's 100th day in office, Souza shared a series of photographs from Obama's first 100 days in office, including snaps of the former president in several different countries around the world, meeting with opposition politicians and speaking with the secretary of state at the time, Hillary Clinton.

View this post on Instagram

First 100 days. Prague, Czech Republic.

A post shared by Pete Souza (@petesouza) on

Souza has also taken aim at some of the people around Trump, such as when he shared a mock-up picture of Obama in a microwave with a camera shortly after one of Trump's senior advisers, Kellyanne Conway, suggested microwaves could be used as surveillance cameras.

And not all of Souza's swipes at Trump have been subtle. Sharing a photograph of Obama signing the Affordable Care Act, Souza wrote: "Remembering that day when the Affordable Care Act (yes, "Obamacare") was signed into law in 2010. Wonder why some are pushing a repeal/replace law that will cause 15 million people to lose coverage, increase costs for lower income and elderly people, and give billions of tax benefits to the wealthiest? Maybe that is really the BFD."

Souza's photography book, Obama: An Intimate Portrait, is set to be released in November.

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Harriet Sinclair

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