President Trump showed a “genuine connection” with Russian President Vladimir Putin as the two leaders met on the tarmac at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska, a body language expert told The Post.
“We first of all see Donald Trump coming down the steps [of Air Force One],” said Dr. Beth Dawson. “So what’s quite interesting with this is that we see Donald Trump walking very cautiously down the steps. He’s looking very, quite cautious. He’s looking down. He’s holding the handrail. He’s coming down quite slowly. It’s very interesting actually, to see this contrast between him and Vladimir Putin.
“When Vladimir Putin comes down the steps, Vladimir Putin comes on the steps very quickly,” Dawson added. “There’s a lot more sort of energy around the way that Vladimir Putin comes down the steps.”
Dawson also called out gestures both world leaders made that indicated wariness and a desire for self-defense.
“We see that little micro-gesture [by Trump] pulling the jacket slightly close,” she said. “Now, he’s not closing his jacket. He’s not buttoning his jacket. This is a very definite micro-gesture … but also signals self-protection.”
Follow live updates on Trump’s high-stakes meeting with Russian president Putin in Alaska
“With Vladimir Putin … we also see a quick hand inside the jacket. Now we see him do this a couple of times,” Dawson went on, later adding: “When we see this, we know that this is more about what’s going on inside emotionally. And again, it’s kind of like a cross-body action. So we have that similar idea of protecting the torso, protecting the heart in a very slightly different way.”
When the time came for the leaders to greet each other, Dawson noticed that Putin had “a genuine smile” on his face.
“He looks genuinely happy to see Donald Trump, and we see him coming across the tarmac looking directly at Donald Trump,” she said.
“Vladimir Putin actually holds out his arm to Donald Trump. And it’s actually Donald Trump that has his hand closest to his body. So … by this we see Trump pulling Vladimir Putin into his personal space. And what we actually see is Vladimir Putin quite happy to let him do that … So we’re seeing some genuine connection here between the two men.”
Dawson noted that Putin, whose communication style is usually marked by a lack of “big movements, big gestures,” is notoriously “very hard to read.”
Meanwhile, Trump similarly appears “very pleased to see” Putin, and “leans towards” the Russian leader during their handshake – another sign of a “very genuine” connection between the two, according to Dawson.
“We see Donald Trump patting Vladimir Putin’s hand,” the body language expert observed. “Again, very, very symbolic gesture of familiarity there.”
“If you’re patting somebody’s hand, you know, you don’t do that with an enemy. You don’t do that with somebody you dislike.”
The general nature of the handshake was described by Dawson as one of “mutual appreciation.”
“We don’t discern tension, necessarily, between the two men,” she added.
However, Dawson spotted some tension when both were “facing the press.”
Putin pointed to his ear, suggesting he couldn’t hear a question from a reporter about when Russia would “stop killing civilians” in Ukraine.
Dawson suggested Putin may have actually heard the question.
“It’s very, very exaggerated,” she said of the gesture.
“He’s looking down, his mouth is turned down … It doesn’t look like a genuine, ‘Okay, what are you saying? I can’t hear you. Could you repeat it, please?’”
“It’s more of a ‘Can’t hear. I’m closed off. I’m not going to answer that,’” Dawson said.
Other experts also picked up on the chemistry off the top of the meeting.
“As Trump stands waiting, he’s smiling—a sign he’s comfortable and looking forward to the event,” Patty Ann Wood told Newsweek. “It’s his natural smile, small and slightly downturned at the corners. His shoulders are back more than usual … his posture is unusually erect. This all suggests confidence.”
Another expert, Judi James, told the Daily Mail that the US president greeted Putin “like a chat show host who has landed an A-list guest” — but tried to set a different tone when the two men sat down.
“After the overkill cordiality of his greeting ritual, Trump’s grim expression and his tapping fingertips here suddenly gave him a tougher and less optimistic look,” said James.
