In July of 2017, during the G20 Summit in Hamburg, a particularly intriguing body language display was captured during one of the dinners. It's quite surprising that this display did not receive more press coverage at the time. It indeed deserves close examination.
What follows is a partial nonverbal analysis of the nonverbal exchange between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin on that night. The relevant video segment is short and is looped several times within the news commentary video included here (begin at 0:46).
Donald Trump turns his face and torso toward Vladimir Putin and then points at the Russian President with the index finger of his right hand.
He then gestures back - with the same finger pointing to himself -
And then Trump points again at Putin.
Next, President Trump pumps his fist, up-and-down, twice -
And yet again, Trump points at Putin (a third time) - this time with his left index finger.
Does it raise your internal alarms when a person - who doesn't know you very well - uses words such as: "We", "Our", "Us", "Let's", etc.? It should. This fits into a type of verbal behavior known as "Forced Teaming" (de Becker) and it's a common technique overused by manipulative individuals. In scenarios which are out of context to mutual familiarity and/or agreement, such verbal forced teaming is an attempt at making another person feel as if they belong to the same clan, team, etc. If you subscribe to any group/belief system, then you'll be significantly more likely to follow established rules/orders - and much more apt to be manipulated.
If you know what to look for, you'll also spot concomitant paralanguage and nonverbal forced teaming analogs.
Donald Trump frequently points to people in a crowd, a member of Congress, or his cabinet. When he does so, it's a body language form of forced teaming. It makes the other person feel as if the president temporarily raises them to the level of a peer - even if they literally and logically know it's not actually true. This makes it significantly more difficult to say, "no" to him - and much more likely that he'll be successful at winning others over to his way of thinking.
However, Trump has never pointed at another person - particularly a head-of-state - and THEN pointed back at himself - until he did so here, with Putin. He proceeded to point back to Putin - and did so a total of three times. And profoundly, sandwiched between his second and third Putin-point was Trump's enthusiastic fist-pumps.
SUMMARY: During the 2017 G20 Summit dinner in Hamburg, Germany - Donald Trump's repeated finger-pointing-fist-pumping gesturing toward Vladimir Putin indicates Trump's belief that he and Putin are on the same team - that they have solidarity - and that they are strong together.
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See also:
Body Language Analysis No. 4369: Donald Trump's Border Wall Oval Office Address
Body Language and Medical Analysis No. 4221: Why are Donald Trump's Pupils So Dilated?
Body Language Analysis No. 4367: Donald Trump, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Schumer Argue in the Oval Office - The Border Wall and Government Shutdown
Body Language Analysis No. 4363: Ivanka Trump's GMA Interview
Body Language Analysis No. 4361: Donald Trump "Jokes" about leaving office
Body Language Analysis No. 4359: Trump and Putin in Paris
Body Language Analysis No. 4357: Donald Trump's response, "What a stupid question"
Body Language Analysis No. 4332: Richard Nixon, Nikita Khrushchev, and The Kitchen Debate
Body Language Analysis No. 4339: Pre-Confession Interview of Murderer, Chris Watts
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