Do you recall this moment from the 2016 Al Smith Dinner? It exemplifies some profoundly classic Body Language.
One characteristic of both a sincere smile and sincere laughter (that’s rarely cited) is retraction of the mandible (a backward vectoring of the jaw) — as is clearly displayed in this profile-view of Hillary Clinton.
Whenever a smile is sincere, the jaw retracts, at least a bit, backward. This movement is often not to the more pronounced degree we see in this example, but it always occurs.
Indeed, so long as you’re first “smiling with your eyes” (eyelids partially [or even fully] closed along with concave-up furrows in each of your lower eyelids), the act of simply by retracting one’s jaw — will often precipitate a sincere smile or even sincere laughter.
Another useful body language tool in this moment to project sincere smile/laughter is recalling a personal hilarious moment and/or someone you love laughing deeply.
Note the expression on Donald Trump’s face in this moment — it’s one of classic Contempt.
In addition, Trump’s left hand is positioned in front of and just above his groin — in a modified (partial) Fig Leaf configuration (aka, Genital Guarding). He’s subconsciously feigning an adjustment of his vest in an attempt at camouflaging his thought-emotions.
He feels threatened and intimidated by Hillary Clinton. Moreover, at the time of this image (20 October 2016), Trump believed Hillary Clinton would win the Presidential Election.
SUMMARY: An important and oft overlooked component of a sincere smile and sincere laughter is a retraction of the jaw. You can even elicit a sincere smile and/or sincere laughter by pulling your jaw backward (when in conjunction with an eye-smiling), (please see above).
Crucially, when jaw retraction is absent, what you might think is a sincere smile or laughter — is being feigned.
In the image included above, Donald Trump’s contempt for Hillary Clinton is clearly demonstrated amidst a moment of Hillary Clinton’s sincere joy-happiness-laughter.
All individuals, businesses, or organizations who want to (need to) dramatically improve their #BodyLanguage skills (via group or individual instruction) — and all professionals who want to nuance their understanding of #EmotionalIntelligence, please DM or email me at Jack@BodyLanguageSuccess.com
Ω
This post and others accompanying it, serve as a reference source for the art and science of Body Language/Nonverbal Communication. The views and opinions expressed on this website are those of the author. In an effort to be both practical and academic, many examples from/of varied cultures, politicians, professional athletes, legal cases, public figures, etc., are cited in order to teach and illustrate both the interpretation of others’ body language as well as the projection of one’s own nonverbal skills in many different contexts.
The Mueller Investigation and, more specifically, Bob Mueller's recent testimony has served to refocus public attention on specific events leading up to the 2016 US Presidential Election. One of these moments was a crucial portion of the third debate held on 19 October - twenty days prior to the election. What follows is a partial nonverbal analysis of that exchange.
DONALD TRUMP (continuing at 27:21): He [Putin] has no respect for her. He has no respect for our president. And I'll tell you what. We're in very serious trouble. Because we have a country with tremendous numbers of nuclear warheads - eighteen hundred by the way. Where they expanded and we didn't. Eighteen hundred nuclear warheads. And she is playing chicken. Look.
CHRIS WALLACE (over-talking): W-, w-, wait.
DONALD TRUMP: Putin - from everything I see has no respect for this - person.
HILLARY CLINTON: Well, that's because he'd rather have a puppet as president of the United States.
DONALD TRUMP (over-talking): No puppet. No Puppet.
HILLARY CLINTON: And it is pretty clear -
DONALD TRUMP (over-talking): You're the puppet.
HILLARY CLINTON: It's pretty clear - you won't admit -
DONALD TRUMP (over-talking): No, you're the puppet. HILLARY CLINTON: ... that the Russians have engaged in cyberattacks against the United States of America. That you encouraged espionage against our people. That you are willing to spout the Putin line, sign up for his wish list, break up NATO, do whatever he wants to do. And that you continue to get help from him because he has a very clear favorite in this race. So, I, I think that this is such an unprecedented, ah, situation. We've never had a foreign government trying to interfere in our election. We have seventeen, seventeen intelligence agencies, civilian and military who have all concluded that these espionage attacks, these cyberattacks, come from the highest levels of the Kremlin. And they are designed to influence our election. I find that deeply disturbing.
During 27:51 - 27:52, as he says, "No puppet. No puppet." - candidate Trump displays a classic Rationalization Rapport Empathy Expression (abbreviated as R2E2).
It's important here to emphasize that the person who is displaying this dynamic facial and head movement - is not feeling Empathy or Rapport - but they are trying to engender these emotions in other people. It's manipulative. They're trying to get you to rationalize - and often while rationalizing themselves.
The Rationalization Rapport Empathy Expression strongly resembles disgust - but it's accompanied by a side-to-side ("No") head movement.
Verbal language accompanying the R2E2 is virtually always refuting statements, e.g., "You don't want that", "You shouldn't do that", "You know I didn't mean to say that", or, in this example, "No puppet. No puppet."
This is a classic example regarding the importance of correlating nonverbal behavior - along with the accompanying verbal language and paralanguage.
Another word is conspicuous in its absence - and it should jump out at you. Donald Trump did NOT use the word "I". If he had true conviction in his denial, he would have said, "I'm no puppet" or "I'm not a puppet." When a person says, "Sorry" - or "Love you", their words don't carry anywhere near the weight, intention, or the emotions as, when they say, "I'm sorry" and "I love you".
Trump left out the word "I" because he doesn't believe his own words. This is particularly true given that "I" is one of the most commonly spoken words across almost all languages. Trump is not taking ownership. His omission of the word "I" is amplified even further given Trump's narcissism. When a person with such a strong ego leaves off the first person singular pronoun - especially with such an important rebuttal - red flags are raised. We all would do well to see them.
All mentally-healthy human beings make this expression on occasion - but you should beware when you see the R2E2 used frequently or during particularly important moments. In such scenarios, this behavior is a screaming warning.
Donald Trump's nonverbal and paralanguage behavior indicates he's trying far too hard to convince us that he's not acting in concert with Vladimir Putin. "The Gentle doth protest too much, methinks." (apologies to Shakespeare).
The full expression of the R2E2 nonverbal cluster is impossible to capture with a still image. Please watch the video several times at regular speed, 1/2 speed, 1/4 speed - and then, once again at regular speed to fully appreciate this behavior in context. Repeat this several times a week, and you'll acquire with increasing skill, the ability to spot this nonverbal behavior in real-time, with everyday situations.
At multiple times during Secretary Clinton's response, Donald Trump nods his head up-and-down in a classic "Yes" affirmation. Trump nods five times in only 43 seconds, immediately following Clinton saying,
"... that the Russians have engaged in ..." (nodding yes during 27:59)
"... break up NATO ..." (nodding yes during 28:14 - 28:15)
"... do whatever he wants to do. And that you ..." (nodding yes during 28:17 - 28:18)
"... We have seventeen, seventeen intelligence agencies ..." (nodding yes during 28:37 - 28:38) "... who have all concluded that ..." (nodding yes during 28:42)
In contrast, if candidate Trump had disagreed with Secretary Clinton, he should have been shaking his head side-to-side in a "No" gesture (illustrator) after each of his opponent's statements, rather than in a "Yes" up-and-down dynamic. Trump's multiple nodding agreements are very clear nonverbal demonstrations that his subconscious agrees with Clinton regarding his clandestine cooperation with Putin - as well as with Russia's cyberattacks.
You may have noted that Mr. Trump only took four drinks of water during this 90-minute debate. It's not a coincidence that one of these occurred during 28:03 - 28:05, just after his 'puppet denial', and immediately after Secretary Clinton said, "... that the Russians have engaged in cyberattacks against the United States of America. That you encouraged ...".
Anxiety acts quickly. It dries up one's mouth and sudden thirst is a powerful indicatorof this thought-emotion.While anxiety alone does not imply deception, when taken in context with other verbal, paralanguage, and nonverbal indicators seen here - Trump's sudden dry mouth is highly suspicious.
Another strong anxiety tell is Trump's adjustment of his microphone. Donald Trump is very skilled at NOT touching his face when he's experiencing anxiety or while he's lying - which is highly unusual (although, of course, he occasionally does so). Most people - both the honest and the deceptive - touch their faces far more often than the President.
However, a surrogate behavior for facial touching is microphone adjustment - which Trump does fairly often. In the segment discussed here, he does so during 28:10 - 28:12, just after Hillary Clinton says, "... you are willing to spout the Putin
line ..."
Another dramatic insight into Trump's thought-emotions is displayed just after Clinton says, "... And that you continue to get help from him ..." - Trump smiles(28:20). This display is particularly important to watch at regular speed, 1/4, 1/2, and again at full speed. The image immediately above shows him just as his smile is forming. Note that his left side begins first - with the right side of his mouth momentarily suppressing it.
A split second later (also during 28:20), Trump closes both eyes in a variation of a "Joker Smile" (referring to court jesters, frightening clowns, and, most notably, the Batman villain of the same name). None of the candidate's teeth are visible and the shape of his mouth opening is completely inconsistent with sincerity. Trump's mouth is vectored strongly to the sides (laterally) - rather than with a strong vertical component (as it would be if his smile were sincere). His bottom lip is curled momentarily outward. This deliberate and hyperbolic expression of insincere surprise combined with a feigned smile is - always duplicitous.
A second later (during 28:21), Trump's center forehead elevates simultaneously with his false mouth smile. While everyone uses this expression once in a while, those who use it often (as Trump does, and not coincidentally, Putin as well) have a very high correlation with Antisocial Personality Disorder (commonly termed, 'Sociopaths' and/or 'Psychopaths').
Notice also, that Trump blushes during this moment. Blushing while smiling (feigned smiling) during denial has an extremely high correlation with deception.
SUMMARY: Donald Trump's nonverbal, verbal, and paralanguage behavior during this segment of the third 2016 Presidential Debate indicates he knew Russia was in the midst of a cyberattack on the United States, that he welcomed it, and that Trump does, in fact, believe that he is subordinate to Vladimir Putin.
On the same day Donald Trump called Omarosa, "... that Dog" in a Tweet, Ms. Manigault Newman revealed that then-candidate Trump was aware of the hacked emails before WikiLeaks publicly released them in July of 2016 during the Democratic National Convention.
What follows is a partial nonverbal analysis of three crucial moments during an interview Ms. Manigault Newman gave on 14 August 2018 with Katie Tur.
KATIE TUR [continuing at 2:07, over-talking]: ... You say corruption, but do you mean coordination? Anything that Robert Mueller would be interested in whether Donald Trump was coordinating with Russia - 'r he knew about the emails during the campaign - that sort of thing?
OMAROSA MANIGAULT: I think that he should come clean with the American people. I think that he should be honest about what he did during the campaign AND - what he continues to do at the White House.
KATIE TUR: You were instructed, according to your book - to bring up the emails at every point you could at the end of the twen - twenty sixteen campaign?
KATIE TUR [over-talking]: Hillary Clinton's emails?
OMAROSA MANIGAULT: Yes. That was our talker. We were to talk -
KATIE TUR [over-talking]: Did Donald Trump know about those emails before they came out?
OMAROSA MANIGAULT: Absolutely Ω
KATIE TUR: He knew about them.
OMAROSA MANIGAULT: Yes
KATIE TUR: He knew what was coming out before WikiLeaks released them
OMAROSA MANIGAULT [over-talking]: Yes §
KATIE TUR: You're saying Donald Trump had a back channel.
OMAROSA MANIGAULT: I didn't say that. You did. But I will say that -
KATIE TUR [over-talking]: How did you know [inaudible] this?
OMAROSA MANIGAULT: - I am going to expose the corruption that went on in the campaign and in the White House ∆ (tight tongue jut, 2:56). I'm going to continue to blow the whistle on all of this.
During 2:42 (notated in the dialog by the Ω symbol), in her response to Katie Tur's question, "Did Donald Trump know about those emails before they came out?", Omarosa Manigault Newman exhibits a classic Contempt display just after she says, "Absolutely".
Four seconds later, during 2:46 (just after she says, "Yes", notated in the dialog by the § symbol), Ms. Manigault Newman exhibits a very telling combination of Contempt coupled with a Suppressed Smile.
The particular amalgam of:
• Contempt
• Suppressed Smile
... is indicative of Schadenfreude.
Schadenfreude is a German word describing "the experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures, or humiliation of another." (Wikipedia)
During 2:56 (notated in the dialog by the ∆ symbol), just after she says, "I am going to expose the corruption that went on in the campaign and in the White House", Ms. Manigault Newman displays a Tight Tongue Jut.
A Tight Tongue Jut (not to be confused with a Loose Tongue Jut or a Wide Open Tongue Jut which have completely different meanings) indicates the thought emotions of:
• Disgust
• Disdain
• Repulsion
While the closing of one's eyelids is not a required component of a tight tongue jut, in this cluster scenario such a dynamic indicates an amplification of her emotions.
SUMMARY: Nonverbal Analysis of Omarosa Manigault Newman during this video interview indicates she believes that then-candidate Donald Trump had foreknowledge of hacked emails released by WikiLeaks. She is being truthful.
Moreover, Ms. Manigault Newman also feels disgust, disdain, repulsion, contempt, and schadenfreude towards President Trump.
The recent summit in Helsinki has refocused attention on specific events surrounding the 2016 US Presidential Election. One of these moments was a crucial portion of the third debate held on 19 October - twenty days prior to the election. What follows is a partial nonverbal analysis of that exchange.
DONALD TRUMP (continuing at 27:21): He [Putin] has no respect for her. He has no respect for our president. And I'll tell you what. We're in very serious trouble. Because we have a country with tremendous numbers of nuclear warheads - eighteen hundred by the way. Where they expanded and we didn't. Eighteen hundred nuclear warheads. And she is playing chicken. Look.
CHRIS WALLACE (over-talking): W-, w-, wait.
DONALD TRUMP: Putin - from everything I see has no respect for this - person.
HILLARY CLINTON: Well, that's because he'd rather have a puppet as president of the United States.
DONALD TRUMP (over-talking): No puppet. No Puppet.
HILLARY CLINTON: And it is pretty clear -
DONALD TRUMP (over-talking): You're the puppet.
HILLARY CLINTON: It's pretty clear - you won't admit -
DONALD TRUMP (over-talking): No, you're the puppet. HILLARY CLINTON: ... that the Russians have engaged in cyber attacks against the United States of America. That you encouraged espionage against our people. That you are willing to spout the Putin line, sign up for his wish list, break up NATO, do whatever he wants to do. And that you continue to get help from him because he has a very clear favorite in this race. So, I, I think that this is such an unprecedented, ah, situation. We've never had a foreign government trying to interfere in our election. We have seventeen, seventeen intelligence agencies, civilian and military who have all concluded that these espionage attacks, these cyber attacks, come from the highest levels of the Kremlin. And they are designed to influence our election. I find that deeply disturbing.
During 27:51 - 27:52, as he says, "No puppet. No puppet." - candidate Trump displays a classic Rationalization Rapport Empathy Expression (abbreviated as R2E2).
It's important here to emphasize that the person who is displaying this dynamic facial movement - is not feeling Empathy or Rapport - but they're trying to evoke these emotions in other people. It's manipulative. They are trying to get you to rationalize - and often while rationalizing themselves.
The Rationalization Rapport Empathy Expression strongly resembles disgust - but it's accompanied by a side-to-side ("No") head movement.
Verbal language accompanying the R2E2 is virtually always refuting statements, e.g., "You don't want that", "I'm sure he didn't mean to say that", or "No puppet. No puppet."
This is a quintessential example of the importance of correlating verbal and nonverbal behavior.
Another word is conspicuous in its absence. It should jump out at you. Donald Trump did NOT use the word "I". If he had true conviction in his denial, he should have said, "I'm no puppet" or "I'm not a puppet." When a person says, "Sorry" - or "Love you", their words don't carry anywhere near the weight, intentionality, or the emotions as, "I'm sorry" and "I love you". Trump left out the word "I" because he doesn't believe his own words. This is especially true when "I" is one of the most commonly spoken words across almost all languages. Trump is not taking ownership. His omission of the word "I" is amplified even further given Trump's narcissism. When a person with such a strong ego leaves off the first person singular pronoun - particularly in such an important rebuttal - red flags are raised.
All mentally-healthy human beings make this expression on occasion - but you should beware when you see the R2E2 used frequently or during particularly important moments. This behavior is a screaming red flag.
Donald Trump's nonverbal and paralanguage behavior indicates he's trying far too hard to convince us that he's not acting in concert with Vladimir Putin.
The full expression of the R2E2 nonverbal cluster is impossible to capture in a still image. Please watch the video several times at regular speed, 1/2 speed, 1/4 speed - and once again at regular speed to fully appreciate this behavior in context.
At multiple times during Secretary Clinton's response, Donald Trump nods his head up-and-down in a classic "Yes" affirmation. Trump nods five times in only 43 seconds, immediately following Clinton saying,
"... that the Russians have engaged in ..." (nodding yes during 27:59)
"... break up NATO ..." (nodding yes during 28:14 - 28:15)
"... do whatever he wants to do. And that you ..." (nodding yes during 28:17 - 28:18)
"... We have seventeen, seventeen intelligence agencies ..." (nodding yes during 28:37 - 28:38) "... who have all concluded that ..." (nodding yes during 28:42)
If candidate Trump disagreed with Secretary Clinton, he should have been shaking his head side-to-side in a "No" gesture (illustrator) after each of his opponent's statements, rather than in a "Yes" up-and-down dynamic. Trump's multiple nodding agreements are very clear nonverbal demonstrations that his subconscious agrees with Clinton regarding his clandestine cooperation with Putin - as well as with Russia's cyber attacks.
Mr. Trump only took four drinks of water during this 90-minute debate. It's not a coincidence that one of these occurred during 28:03 - 28:05, just after his puppet denial, and immediately after Secretary Clinton said, "... that the Russians have engaged in cyber attacks against the United States of America. That you encouraged ...".
Anxiety acts quickly to dry up one's mouth and sudden thirst is a powerful indicatorof this emotion.While anxiety alone does not imply deception, when taken in context with other verbal, paralanguage, and nonverbal indicators seen here - Trump's sudden dry mouth is highly suspicious.
Another strong anxiety tell is Trump's adjustment of his microphone. Donald Trump is very skilled at NOT touching his face when he's experiencing anxiety or while lying - which is highly unusual (although of course, he does occasionally do so). Most people - both the honest and the deceptive - touch their faces' far more often than the President does.
However, a surrogate behavior for facial touching is microphone adjustment - which Trump does fairly often. In the segment discussed here, he does so during 28:10 - 28:12, just after Hillary Clinton says, "... you are willing to spout the Putin
line ..."
Another dramatic insight into Trump's thought-emotions is displayed just after Clinton says, "... And that you continue to get help from him ..." - Trump smiles(28:20). This display is particularly important to watch at regular speed, 1/4, 1/2, and again at full speed. The image immediately above shows him just as his smile is forming. Note that his left side begins first - with the right side of his mouth momentarily suppressing it.
A split second later (also during 28:20), Trump closes both eyes in a variation of a "Joker Smile" (referring to court jesters, scary clowns, and the Batman villain). None of the candidate's teeth are visible and the shape of his mouth opening is completely wrong. Trump's mouth is vectored strongly to the sides (laterally) - rather than primarily vertically as it would be during a sincere smile. His bottom lip is curled momentarily out. This deliberate and hyperbolic expression of insincere surprise combined with an insincere smile is - always duplicitous.
A second later (during 28:21), Trump's center forehead elevates simultaneously with his false mouth smile. While everyone uses this expression once in a while, those who use it often (as Trump does, and not coincidentally, Putin as well) have a very high correlation with Antisocial Personality Disorder (commonly termed, 'Sociopaths').
Notice also, that Trump blushes during this moment. Blushing while smiling (feigned smiling) during denial has an extremely high correlation with deception.
Summary: Donald Trump's nonverbal behavior during this segment of the third 2016 Presidential Debate indicates he knew Russia was in the midst of a cyber-attack on the United States, that he welcomed it, and that Trump does, in fact, believe that he is subordinate to Vladimir Putin.
On Tuesday, Roger Stone was interviewed by Chuck Todd. One segment is included above. What follows is a partial nonverbal analysis of a particularly telling behavior pattern exhibited by Mr. Stone.
CHUCK TODD (beginning at 0:00): Did, um, you suggest to the President that he [stutter] at that press conference say, "Russia, if you're listening - ahum, go find Hillary Clinton's emails"?
ROGER STONE: I can honestly say that ah, that candidate Trump, Donald Trump, President Trump and I have never discussed the Wikileaks disclosures before, during, or after [stutter] -
CHUCK TODD: [over-talking] You never had a single discussion about Hillary Clinton emails, ah, with him at all?
ROGER STONE: That is correct.
CHUCK TODD: Nothing about Hillary Clinton [slurring] I understand Wikileaks - Not once about Hillary Clinton emails - You never had one conversation with President Trump about that?
ROGER STONE: Not, not a single one - no. Absolutely not.
CHUCK TODD: [over-talking] And that's the same answer you're going to give if Mr. Mueller asks you that question?
ROGER STONE: It's the same answer that Igave the House Intelligence Committee under oath, ah, months ago - it's certainly the same answer I would give the special counsel [stutter] ah, ah, Donald Trump and I - have never discussed the matter.
Note that Mr. Stone blinks very frequently during this entire 47-second video. An increased frequency of blinking (above baseline) is a nonspecific, but highly reliable, indicator of anxiety.
Yet there's more nuance revealed here. Go back and watch the video once again. Notice also, that some of Roger Stone's blinking is of incredibly long duration. Most of these extended blinks are either simultaneous with his verbal denials - or a split second after Chuck Todd asks him a particularly crucial question or uses a keyword. These moments of Roger Stone's extended blinking are highlighted in the above dialog in red.
It's possible, perhaps, that Mr. Stone has an ophthalmic condition which causes him to blink more often (e.g. Dry Eye Syndrome). However, if this is true, it still doesn't account for the timing of his extended blinking - once again, highly coincident with his denials and/or with Mr. Todd's evocative words/questions.
Thin-slicing his blinking even further - when two adjacent tissues are moving in opposite directions - particularly as part of a facial expression - it sends up a tremendous red flag. Note the image immediately above - Roger Stone's forehead muscles are contracted and vectored upward - whereas his eyelids are in the midst of an extended blink. This opposite-direction dynamic is unnatural and is a profound nonverbal analog of, "The gentleman doth protests too much, methinks (apologies to William Shakespeare)."
There are some interesting paralanguage/statement analysis tells here as well. Whenever someone says, "I can honestly say" - with high probability - they're lying.
Additionally, Mr. Stone's use of "That is correct" - is a non-contraction (e.g., as opposed to "That's correct"). In the act of telling a lie (here, a false affirmation), people will have a strong tendency to use non-contractions. But when the same person speaks the truth, they'll tend to use contractions.
Summary: Roger Stone's clusters of nonverbal, verbal, and paralanguage behavior exhibited in this video are highly consistent with multiple examples of deceptions. More specifically, with extremely high probability, Roger Stone and Donald Trump did discuss the WikiLeaks emails prior to the 2016 Election.
Earlier today Hillary Clinton gave her concession speech. Bill Clinton stood behind her as she spoke about calling President-Elect Donald Trump, congratulating him - and offering to work with him.
In addition to his partially suppressed tears, the expression on Bill Clinton's face in the image captured below is a particularly good example of an oft overlooked nonverbal principle - that of the tremendous disparity between an expression one thinks one is making - versus the one actually displayed. Whenever we're far from our emotional baseline, even the most experience among us, we're extremely inaccurate at both assessment of - as well as projecting the desired (and fully contextualized) body language and facial expressions.
Bill Clinton's expression is that of "Bitter-Regret" (sometimes referred to as a "Bitter Smile"), yet 99.7% of the time, when people are making this facial configuration - although they know they're not displaying a full, sincere smile (Duchenne Smile), they believe they're squeezing out a slight smile. They think the corners of their mouths' are up-turned just a bit.
Question: Is Trump 'thankful' for any Anthony Weiner-related scandals and possible connections with Hillary Clinton? Answer: Yes.
Question: When people are thankful, do they sometimes smile. Answer: Often.
Question: Is Trump smiling as he professes this new-found thank you to Anthony Weiner? Answer: No (but many will mistake it for one).
What follows is a partial nonverbal analysis of a crucial segment of the above mentioned event.
Many nonverbal novices (and most otherwise socially adept professionals) will confuse subtle (or even moderate) contempt for a partial smile. They couldn't be more wrong.
In the image above (captured during 0:09), Mr. Trump's eyebrows lowering, his eyelids are partially closed, the left corner of his mouth is beginning to be pulled up and laterally - along with a similar vectoring (as well as tightening) of the left portion of his "mustache area" (region between upper lip and nose regardless of the presence of facial hair or gender).
It's absolutely true that during a sincere smile, there is always (a sometimes subtle but most of the time not-so-subtle) partial eyelid closure. Sometimes (particularly when punctuated with sincere laughter) the eyelid closure may be momentarily complete. In the above image however, Mr. Trump's eyelid closure (0:10.2) is not accompanied by an upward movement of the cheek muscles (which is required with all sincere smiles). This variety of eyelid closure involves almost exclusively Trump's upper eyelids. This is but one (but very important) signal that Trump's smile is insincere.
Note the furrow between the left corner of Donald Trump's mouth running up to the left lateral portion of his nose. This is termed the "nasolabial fold". Its relative prominence on Trump's left is also indicative of contempt (as is the further tightening of his left mustache area).
In this last image (0:10.8), Trump's mouth component of his contempt is slightly more developed. His partial eyelid (as well as his complete eyelid closure above) in this context are examples of contempt amplifiers (eyelid closure of any degree is not required during contempt displays - but it does augment the baseline expression and emotion).
Summary: This is an excellent example of a subtle contempt display. Moreover its presence during a statement of a "thank you" is outstanding example of a different variety - this one of a nonverbal expression contradicting a verbal expression. Whenever simultaneous verbal and a nonverbal messages are in disagreement - it's the nonverbal one which 'speaks' the truth.
What follows is a partial nonverbal analysis of Secretary Clinton during her statement and the subsequent Q &A.
When a person reads a speech, prepared remarks, a script, etc., - they tend to be of lower confidence and of lower emotional comfort. This behavior is very common (even with experienced speakers) and is particularly true when the words are written by another person(s) rather than by the person who's reading them. An extremely common body language phenomenon accompanying such scenarios is standing with one's feet close together.
When she's reading her statement (which was no doubt prepared by others), Hillary Clinton's feet are indeed closer together. However after she finishes reading and prepares to take questions, Secretary Clinton then readjusts her feet - moving them further apart (0:56 -1:00 and more so during 1:08 - 1:10). Although we cannot see this directly, we can see her head and shoulders move lower - (this is not be confused with the separate and also significant nonverbal superimposed actions of the relaxing of her shoulders, arms, hands and face).
Please watch the video to appreciate this relatively subtle yet nonverbally profound dynamic.
The fact that Secretary Clinton moved her feet apart (along with her other relaxing displays) when it was time to answer questions is significant. This switching to a higher confidence stance - as well as her more relaxed torso, arms and face when she went into 'an unscripted mode' strongly suggests that she believes she is innocent of any new wrong-doing.
In distinction, a person who believes they are guilty may 'say all the right things' - however their feet will stay close together (e.g., 'at attention') - and other body language and facial expressions would also grow even more tense once they 'moved off script'.
