Body Language Analysis No. 3946: Melania Swats Away Donald Trump's Hand as They Arrive in Israel - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

President Donald Trump arrived in Tel Aviv earlier today. For the next two days, he's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

At the airport, as Donald Trump and Melania were walking down the red-carpet welcome way, the President reached his left hand out and behind him in an effort to hold the First Lady's hand.

But Melania was having none of it. She slapped it away. There are some who have (and will continue to say) that this was not what it looked like - a very clear, deliberate and public dissing. You can watch the video (and again in slow motion) and see for yourself.

From a body language perspective, what Donald Trump does immediately after Melania's refusal, gives us a glimpse into his psyche. He reaches the same jilted hand up and the adjusts his tie. This is a MAP (Manipulator, Adaptor, Pacifier) surrogate (the tie, in this context, is an extension of the body). When viewed in isolation, this False Tie Adjust is a signal of anxiety.

Yet we nuance this nonverbal further ...

More specifically, the False Tie Adjustment is a signal to one's psyche that the alpha qualities need to be dialed-up (and the beta feelings must be turned down). Thus it's one variety of what is called an alpha up-regulator. At this moment, Donald (or anyone else, were they in his shoes) feels much more beta than he wants to (or is used to) feeling. He's far below his emotional baseline (particularly in such an extremely public setting).

Moreover, when his hand was rebuffed, he felt the immediate need to hold something else - and, although his tie didn't need adjusting, he held it instead.

He then performed a similar maneuver on the left side of his suit jacket.

Summary: Melania Trump swatted away the President's hand today at the airport in Tel Avia when he was trying to hold her hand. Donald Trump, upon being dissed, understandably felt anxiety - and this knocked him into a beta emotional state. Although many have and will deny what obviously occurred, the President's body language actions immediately after this very public rejection verify his momentary emotional state.

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See also:

Body Language Analysis No. 3945: Donald Trump's Anxiety - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence

Body Language Analysis No. 3943: Donald Trump hugs James Comey

Body Language Analysis No. 3941: H.R. McMaster’s Press Conference, Part II — Donald Trump, Russia & Classified Information

Body Language Analysis No. 3939: The Russians are Confident - Sergey Lavrov, Rex Tillerson, and Donald Trump

Body Language Analysis No. 3932: Raúl Labrador's Town Hall statement, "Nobody dies because they don't have access to healthcare..."

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3922: Vladimir Putin and Michael Flynn in Moscow

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3872: "Fearless Girl" Statue in Manhattan's Financial District

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3861: Emma Stone, The Oscars and Sincerity

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3717: Creepy Clowns, Body Language and Emotional Intelligence

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Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3059: Kiss Cam - Benny the Bull to the Rescue - Distancing Behavior and Tongue-in-Cheek (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Last night the Mascot "Benny the Bull" of the Chicago Bulls came to the rescue of a Boston Celtics fan whose partner was busy on his cell phone and refused to acknowledge the camera, crowd and his girlfriend/wife and needless to say no kissing ensued. She certainly could use a little bit more finesse in her negotiation tactics - and many men would have behaved similarly. Of course we don't know the back story here or relative importance of the phone call.

After being hit and scolded, the man on his mobile phone switches hands and turns away from his partner. In retrospect and with the benefit of a video, most all can see the obviousness of this distancing and disrespectful behavior - the proverbial "Cold Shoulder".

Although it's at the limits of this low resolution image, three seconds later after she turns forward and rotates her head a bit to her left (away from her partner more directly at the camera), she appears to display a "Tongue-in-Cheek" nonverbal with her tongue pushing to her left cheek (also better viewed within the dynamic context of the video). The tongue-in-cheek maneuver may indicate several different emotions depending on the other nonverbals which accompanies it. In this cluster-context it indicates "I just caught you" or "I just won" (Do you know the other meanings?).

Note the man sitting immediately in back of her puts his hand on his mouth/face as he is trying to emotionally process what is going on in front of him (one of many signals of a high empathy quotient).

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3058: Stuart Scott's ESPY Award Speech - a Common Yet Very Under-appreciated Signal of Sadness/Grief Suppression

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2796: Olivia Wilde, Butter, Jon Stewart and the Tongue in Cheek

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2434:  Brad Pitt's Tongue-in-Cheek regarding  Reasons for Choosing to Work on "World War Z"

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2352:  Mila Kunis' Tongue in Cheek  Graham Norton Part II

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2748: Tatia Pilieva's Brilliant Video "First Kiss" - Body Language of Romance and Affection

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2987: Tristan Thompson Kisses Sideline Reporter Allie Clifton

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2678: French President François Hollande, Valerie Trierweiler and Julie Gayet - Of Affairs, Affection and Body Language Tells

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2649: How a Kiss can Change the World - Body Language of Affection

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