(G7 Photo: Jesco Denzel, AFP/Getty Images)

The media have shown Trump saluting a North Korean military officer and, once again, liberals have taken the clickbait. They are outraged – sharing the video and photographs across social media. But, of all the things Trump has done, that gesture was, by itself, relatively meaningless. It was, perhaps, nothing more than a reflexive reaction to the officer’s salute.

What really matters is the context surrounding that gesture, when you contrast it with a photo of a petulant Trump at the G7 meeting.

Remember that Trump arrived at the G7 meeting late after stating that Putin should be invited to the meeting. He then threatened our staunchest allies with a trade war and questioned the need for NATO. Then, leaving the meeting in a shambles, he tweeted verbal attacks directed at the leader of our closest ally on his way to his meeting with Kim Jong-un.

By contrast, at his meeting with Kim, Trump was effusive in his praise of the world’s worst dictator. And despite North Korea’s history of human rights abuses and failure to follow through on its promises, Trump agreed to suspend our war “games” with South Korea having received no concrete concessions in return. All he got was another vague promise and evidence that North Korea had dismantled its nuclear test site – a site that was already no longer usable according to China’s intelligence agencies.

Trump’s treatment of North Korea also stands in stark contrast with his withdrawal from the nuclear agreement with Iran. While North Korea already has nuclear weapons and ICBM missiles with which to deliver them, Iran has not yet developed nuclear weapons. While North Korea has not yet agreed to a regimen of strict inspections to verify its commitment to dismantling its nuclear program, Iran has. And while the agreement with North Korea is based on a handshake and worthless piece of paper, Iran’s agreement was painstakingly negotiated over a period of years with an international team of government officials and nuclear experts.

Nevertheless, Trump has pronounced the Iran agreement a failure and his 45-minute drive-by with Kim a yu-u-u-ge success…Nobel worthy.

It’s a pattern we’ve seen before from der Gropenfuhrer – the embrace of strongmen, despots and dictators while turning a cold shoulder to the leaders of democracies, disregarding moral and ethical norms, and undermining democratic institutions here at home.