They say a picture speaks a thousand words, but this might not be the case if the latest snap of Theresa May and Donald Tusk is anything to go by.
In plain terms it screams, simply: “Brexit is fucked”. Concise.
The PM and the European Council president met on Thursday in Brussels, a day after Tusk said there was a “special place in hell” for those politicians and campaigners who pushed for Brexit without a plan for what to do once we leave.
After the meeting, in which May was hoping to negotiate some flexibility on the Northern Ireland backstop, both politicians appeared to be channeling Beelzebub himself as they posed for what has all the makings of a classic viral picture.
In fact, it’s already started.
And if you’re thinking “hang on, these pained expressions could just have been brief moments captured in an otherwise jovial meeting between the PM and EU leaders”, well, you’re wrong.
Here’s the video of May shaking hands with Jean-Claude Juncker in which both parties look like naughty schoolchildren forced by teacher to make up after a lunch break punch up.
May said she held “robust but constructive” talks with EU leaders but Tusk managed to immediately dump on any enthusiasm with a tweet claiming there was “still no breakthrough in sight”.
The prime minister is holding a series of meetings with EU leaders in Brussels as she seeks changes to the Irish backstop in an effort to get a deal through the House of Commons, the Press Association reports.