Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3830: Donald Trump, Enrique Peña Nieto and the Proposed Wall Along the Mexican-US Border - Body Language and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Today President Donald Trump cancelled his meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto. He addressed this along with his proposed Wall on the Mexican Border for the cameras and a GOP audience during the Republican retreat today in Philadelphia. It will come as no surprise that Trump's address was laden with very telling nonverbal behavior. One body language moment in particular is buried within the following segment:

At 2:09, President Trump continues, "... To that end - the president of Mexico - and myself have agreed to cancel our planned meeting scheduled for next week [Tight Forward Tongue Jut]. Unless Mexico is going to treat the United States fairly - with respect - such a meeting - would be fruitless - and I wanna go - a different route - we have no choice... "

During 2:18, note the display of President Trump's "Tongue Jut" (More specifically this is a "Tight Tongue Jut" [or a "Tight Forward Tongue Jut"] - in distinction to the "Loose Tongue Jut". Don't confuse these two as they have very different meanings). When there is significant tension (thus the descriptor, "Tight") in the jaw, mouth, lips and mid-face (as can be clearly seen in this example) during a simultaneous tongue jut - this signifies the emotions of being repulsed by, and having a strong distaste and disdain for the issue, person, group of people, etc., at hand. There's also a component of disgust present.

Intriguingly, if you have ever tried to feed an infant creamed asparagus which they didn't like - this is the identical mouth configuration you would see displayed.

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3829: Mary Tyler Moore - Flirtatious, Sexy, Alpha Female Smile

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3827: Sean Spicer's Saturday Night Press Briefing

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3825: President Trump's first Expression after Being Introduced

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3822: Betsy DeVos Confirmation Hearing

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2818: Representative John Lewis: "Donald Trump Won’t Be A ‘Legitimate President

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3808: Felicity Jones' Sincere Smile

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3799: Carrie Fisher and Princess Leia - Full Lips and Lip Pursing

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3765: Conjoined twins Jadon and Anias McDonald

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3702: Hillary Clinton: "Why aren't I 50 points ahead (of Trump)?''

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3469: Leonardo DiCaprio and Dame Maggie Smith on BAFTA Awards Kiss Cam - The British Academy Film Awards


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Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3828: Donald Trump's Body Language Display Rarely Used By Any Past President - Emotional Intelligence (PHOTOS)

Until Donald Trump, I had never seen an image of a US President using a "Conventional Steeple" display - and I've reviewed hundreds of thousands of POTUS photos.

Often shortened to simply just a "Steeple", a conventional steeple (for there are several types) is a body language signal characterized by the tips of the fingers and thumbs touching each other while the palms of the hands are held well apart (in distinction from a prayer or pseudo-prayer configuration).

Whenever one uses a conventional steeple (and here it is a medium-to-low steeple - e.g., a "high conventional steeple" would involve the hands held in front of the neck or mouth), it should only be used literally for a half a second or perhaps a second - during the most important part of an appearance or speech - and no more.

When used in such small doses, a conventional steeple projects the alpha emotional tones of judicious power, decisiveness and confidence. Unfortunately when a conventional steeple is used, it's usually OVER-USED - and thus it backfires and very rapidly becomes hyper-alpha, arrogant, condescending and overlaps with some components of disgust and contempt.

If you're a head-of-state, the conventional steeple should almost NEVER be used. This is even more true of the leaders of the more powerful countries. Everyone already knows the President of the United States is an incredibly powerful person. Why the need for more power? Such hyper-alpha behavior builds no bridges - but rather acts as a rapport destroyer and actively alienates people.

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3827: Sean Spicer's Saturday Night Press Briefing

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3825: President Trump's first Expression after Being Introduced

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3823: Nina Dobrev, Flyboarding, Laughter and a Rapport/Bonding Amplifier - Body Language and Emotional Intelligence

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3805: Mariah Carey's New Year's Eve Lip Sync Fail On Live TV

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3798: Elle Fanning, Channing Tatum and Dialing Up the Alpha

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3738: Gary Johnson Loses His Temper

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

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3707: The Presidential Debates Part III - Donald Trump v. Hillary Clinton and Sniffing

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3674: Drake Presents Rihanna with Vanguard Award - 2016 Video Music Awards - MTV

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3635: Michelle Obama's DNC Speech and a Body Language Mistake 


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Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3825: President Trump's first Expression after Being Introduced - Body Language and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

What were the first emotions expressed by President Trump after he was introduced yesterday?

Many people in his shoes would exhibit a sincere smile, a social smile or a perhaps a nervous smile. But joy and happiness (or even an attempt at these) were not the expressions (nor the emotions) which Donald Trump displayed (nor felt) when he was introduced by Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) - just after he was sworn-in and immediately prior to his inaugural address. The first emotions President Trump felt and displayed upon being introduced were that of regret and anger (captured below from 0:24).

In the real world, emotions do not always appear in their textbook, pure and isolated forms. Often two or more emotions are experienced simultaneously. Although, because the motion-capture nature of this telephoto video image (immediately above) is of a bit lower resolution, several key features on Mr. Trump's face in this moment delineate the emotions of both regret and anger. This combination can be also thought of as "bitter-anger" or "bitterness".

Note the lateral, backward and down retraction of the corners of Trump's mouth - this cluster is highly characteristic of regret. The thinning of his upper lip along with the jutting forward of his jaw are highly indicative of anger. Moreover, the muscular tension/contraction of the area above his upper lip and below his nose (termed the "mustache area" regardless of the level of facial hair) - along with the flaring of his nostrils - also projects anger. A third anger indicator is the particular type of tension of his lower eyelids and the partial closure of his upper and lower eyelids. Remove for a moment any political bias you may have - if you have no formal nonverbal training at all, but otherwise have good interpersonal and social skills - these emotions should jump out at you.


See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3824: Donald Trump's Inaugural Speech - Three Ways of Pointing

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3822: Betsy DeVos Confirmation Hearing

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3820: Mr. Trump: "Who would you trust more, Angela Merkel or Vladimir Putin?"

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3807: Sarah Paulson's Fear of Flying

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3790: Senator John McCain Believes Russian Election Interference Could 'Destroy Democracy'

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3728: Barack Obama Tells Donald Trump to Stop Whining

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3664: Benjamin Netanyahu, Viktor Yanukovych and Vladimir Putin

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3601: Casey Neistat & Candice Pool - Water Spit Challenge

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2320: Estonian Skier Andrus Veerpalu - Denies Performance Enhancing Drugs - What his Body Language Tells Us

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2586: Harrison Ford in "Ender's Game" - Microexpression and Macroexpression of Regret - Harrison's Brand and the Stanislavski Method 


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