Body Language Analysis No. 3993: Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and subordinate Behavior - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

In conjunction with their private meeting yesterday at the G20 Summit, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump made some brief statements to the Press - and shook hands on-camera for the second and third time.

There are many ingredients to a good handshake and most people consistently get the majority of these nonverbals components wrong.

On each of these two occasions in this press statement, Donald Trump offered his hand up first - and he did so in a palm-up fashion. This is very common for President Trump (he's done it with many other heads-of-state) - but initiating a handshake with a palm-up configuration - particularly when that person is the initiator - is subordinate behavior. That indeed is one advantage of offering one's hand first - for you get choreograph it. You get to lead the dance (or you can choose to be led).

Donald Trump believes this dynamic makes him look friendly, but he's sorely mistaken - it makes him acquiescing and weak.

Now, if your boss shakes your hand with his hand palm-down - recognized this action for the context in which it's presented. His behavior would tell you that you need to feed your boss' ego. By all means - feed it. Reciprocate with your palm faced upward. But such is not the case between heads-of-states. It's a beta behavior and should NEVER be used by a president, a prime minister, or any leader - especially on the World stage. 

Another important component of this interaction is the manner in which each man is sitting. Both men use the "Seated Crotch Display" as their default setting. This is often colloquially referred to as "Manspreading".

Trump's hands are also in a modified low steeple - which for him, again is his normal pose.

But now look at each man's arms. Putin's upper arms and elbows are held far away from his torso - while Trump's arms are very close to his body. This difference is striking. Putin is projecting an alpha and assertive emotional tone, while Trump is being beta and diminutive. 

Summary: The body language used by Donald Trump in this interaction is significantly beta to Vladimir Putin's alpha. Although his spoken language suggests parody, President Trump's body language is screaming acquiescence.


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Jack@BodyLanguageSuccess.com


See also:

Body Language Analysis No. 3992: Angela Merkel's Eye Roll for Vladimir Putin's Mansplaining

Body Language Analysis No. 3990: Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, The G20, and Default Expressions

Body Language Analysis 3988: Kim Jong-un, ICBMs, False Joy, and Fake Laughter

Body Language Analysis No. 3986: Anthony Kennedy, The Supreme Court, and Predicting Empathy

Body Language Analysis No. 3983: Female Kurdish sniper fighting IS narrowly cheats death

Body Language Analysis No. 3965: Manspreading, Madrid, and a Business Faux Pas

Body Language Analysis No. 3944: Dwayne Johnson, The 2020 Presidential Election, and The Rock Dialing Up His Alpha

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3921: Kim Jong-un, North Korea, Alpha Status, and Clapping

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

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3642: Does Donald Trump Know Vladimir Putin?


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Body Language Analysis No. 3991: Donald Trump's and Vladimir Putin's First Meeting and Handshake - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Earlier today at the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump met publicly for the first time. What can we discern by their body language?

In the initial milliseconds, just before their hands make contact, note that President Putin's hand is angled a bit more in a palm-down orientation, while President Trump's hand is necessarily more palm-up.

A palm-down positioning projects dominance. Not surprisingly, it's also a common handshake practice of many alpha personalities, including Putin (e.g., at the commencement of the 2013 G20 with President Barack Obama).

Trump then pulls Putin's arm closer to his torso - which is a truncated version of the maneuver which, for Trump, is very routine during handshakes. This dynamic gives him leverage to more vertically-orient his and Putin's hands, changing each to a more neutral position.

Trump then pats the underside of Putin's forearm three times with his left hand. While those who use this maneuver will momentarily up-regulate their alpha status (both internally - in their own psyche and externally to others) - there's another important and competing dynamic.

Grabbing the forearm, elbow, upper arm, shoulder, etc., is an invasion of the other person's personal space (intimate space). It's a false friendship/false intimacy dynamic - one which the vast majority of people do not like. Indeed, many people take offense to these variations and thus such practices will start any kind of greeting or meeting off on the proverbial wrong foot.

President Putin then displays a nonverbal gesture very commonly practiced by President Trump - index finger pointing.

In general, index finger pointing is highly discouraged - for it's universally offensive. Yet some people perform this illustrator as a nonverbal way of saying "We are on the same team", "It's Us versus them", "Let's do this together", and/or "Our mindset is one in the same/similar". This nonverbal signal is manipulative - and a body language method of "Forced Teaming" (de Becker).

In this final image, President Trump again violates Putin's intimate space by patting his shoulder/upper back region. This action is rapport destroying - yet those who use this (and similar maneuvers) are either tone-deaf its results - and/or they place greater value on their short-term, power-surge feelings of dominance this nonverbal display evokes.

Putin's hands are uncharacteristically placed in a relatively beta position on top of the table (which is not recommended in this context).


Summary: In the initial meeting between President Trump and President Putin, Trump nonverbally overstepped. While Trump's action of "out-alpha-ing" Putin with his dominance displays made Trump feel momentarily in-charge, from Putin's perspective they were rapport destroying. President Putin made a mistake too - that of projecting a bit of a beta emotional tone at the very end of this exchange.



Group Appearances and One-on-One
Online Courses Available 
702-239-8503
Jack@BodyLanguageSuccess.com


See also:

Body Language Analysis No. 3990: Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, The G20, and Default Expressions 

Body Language Analysis 3988: Kim Jong-un, ICBMs, False Joy, and Fake Laughter 

Body Language Analysis No. 3986: Anthony Kennedy, The Supreme Court, and Predicting Empathy

Body Language Analysis No. 3984: Trump's Tweets, Tics, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders

Body Language Analysis No. 3982: Bangkok Police Officer's De-Escalation Genius

Body Language Analysis No. 3978: Keanu Reeves, Chuck Spadina, Sincerity, and Empathy

Body Language Analysis No. 3947: Benjamin Netanyahu's reaction to Donald Trump's statement, "I never mentioned the Word or Name 'Israel' "

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3887: Why Does Donald Trump Point at People So Often? - Body Language and Emotional Intelligence

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2511:  Barack Obama & Vladimir Putin Handshake at 2013 G20 Meeting


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Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3751: Barack Obama and Donald Trump Meet at the White House - Body Language and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Today Barack Obama and Donald Trump met at the White House. It was the first ever meeting between the two men.

From a nonverbal perspective, there's a multitude of signals shown by the President and President-Elect. One moment (captured in the image below from a slightly different angle) is especially telling.

Note both men's legs - in particular the angle made by their thighs. I've analyzed hundreds of videos of Donald Trump and I've never (before) seen him sitting with his thighs splayed at a lesser angle than anyone else in the room. The angle made by the thighs is proportional to and indicative of a dominance display - and although Donald Trump's configuration here is by no means submissive - he is projecting a relatively beta emotional tone relative to President Obama's alpha. Moreover, this is the greatest seated thigh angle of dominance in which I've ever seen the President sit. Barack's body language very much saying, "I outrank you."

Another fascinating nonverbal signal in this video is the position of Donald Trump's hands. While his hands are very typically displaying in a hyper-alpha "Low Steeple" (more specifically a "Low Convention Steeple"), here his hands are configured in a significantly beta "Low Pseudo-Prayer" manner. Furthermore, in the video you'll notice his fingers repeatedly separating and coming back together again. This hand cluster-dynamic indicates a relatively high level of anxiety.

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3750: Bill's Reaction to Hillary Clinton's Concession Speech

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3748: Donald Trump, Bill Belichick and Exaggerated Mouth Movements

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3746: Alicia Keys, Questlove, Krispy Kremes and Connecting the Dots

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3742: Evan McMullin, Donald Trump and Winning Utah

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3740: Donald Trump Thanks Anthony Weiner

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3676: Colin Kaepernick Says He Be Sitting Down During the National Anthem

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3736: Newt Gingrich and Megyn Kelly re: Donald Trump

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3708: Hillary Clinton v. Donald Trump - Presidential Debates - Part IV - Hillary's Email Anxiety


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