Trump’s ‘most telling’ behaviour to China President Xi Jinping broken down by body language expert
Topics: Donald Trump, China, Politics, US News
Kiesha Dosanjh
Featured Image Credit: Kenny Holston-Pool/Getty Images
Topics: Donald Trump, China, Politics, US News
Donald Trump was full of praise for China's President Xi Jinping during their recent meeting - but a body language expert has dug deeper into one gesture that may not be so 'friendly' after all.
The President has made his first trip to Beijing in almost a decade - and as always, the world are watching his every move.
The leaders met with a lengthy handshake, with Trump simultaneously putting his arms around Xi Jinping.
It seemed like Trump was happy to be in the presence of Xi Jinping, telling him: "You’re a great leader.
Advert
"Sometimes people don’t like me saying it, but I say it anyway, because it’s true."
And the compliments didn't stop there, with Trump also telling China's President that he was 'honoured to be his friend'.
However, one body language expert dug deeper, and said the POTUS came across as 'condescending'.
Speaking on behalf of OLBG, body language expert Darren Stanton said: “This is probably the most telling footage I’ve seen in terms of Trump trying to come across as the dominant figure in the room. He puts his arm around Xi, and that’s actually quite a condescending gesture."
"We see this a lot with politicians; any kind of hand placed on someone’s back might look reassuring or friendly on the surface, but in body language terms, it’s what we’d call a power pat or power gesture."
Stanton then went on to say that Trump felt it was important to 'protect strength and authority' with China being 'such a major super power'.
However, he later said the meeting 'seemed like a fairly convivial one,' and said it would be 'viewed positively overall'.
"But essentially, Trump was up to his usual tricks again, trying to subtly position himself as the top dog in the room," the expert concluded.
Things weren't all smiley, however, as Trump seemed to avoid a question about Taiwan.
After his tour of tour of the Temple of Heaven, Trump was met by a reporter, who had a number of questions about their meeting.
Trump started off incredibly open with the reporter, telling him his talks with Xi Jinping were 'great'.
"Incredible. China is beautiful," he added.
However, he wasn't a fan of the questions that came next, with the reporter being met with dead silence after asking if the pair had spoken about Taiwan.
It was, however, reported by The Guardian that the US was 'issued a warning' on the topic, with Xi saying the countries could 'come into conflict' if the issue wasn't solved.
Xi wants the island of Taiwan to be unified with the rest of China, however, it currently serves as its own independent country.