Upper hand: Trump and Putin's body language shows who's the boss [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

John Crace
@JohnJCrace
Friday 7 July 2017 13.14 EDT


The stonyfaced Russian president made it clear who was the heavyweight figure on the world stage




Their first encounter had been a brush-by in the VIP lounge of the G20 conference centre in Hamburg during the morning. President Putin had intended it to be the briefest of handshakes, forgetting there is no such thing as a quick handshake with Donald Trump. The US president had thrust out a clammy right paw, grabbed hold of his arm with his left hand and then pumped it enthusiastically for rather longer than was comfortable. The man clearly has no sense of personal space.

Vlad flashed a half-hearted smile, keen not to look outmanoeuvred by such third-rate power games. The Donald might be a great deal taller than him, but he is also badly out of shape. A physical wreck. One judo throw and Trump would be on his back. Where he belonged. Had he really gone to all the trouble of trying to rig the US presidential election for this? Maybe he would have been better off with Hillary after all. At least you could have an intelligent conversation with her.

By the time the two world leaders met for their bilateral meeting in the afternoon, Putin was better prepared. For the obligatory photo opportunity at the beginning of the talks, he and Trump were seated in adjacent armchairs with translators and officials to one side. Their body language could hardly have been worse. The Donald was perched on the edge of his chair, trying to appear in control though just looking a bit needy. Vlad sat back in his, determined to make little or no eye contact. He wanted to make the American president sweat and he was succeeding. There was no doubt who was the boss now.

The Donald is uncomfortable with lengthy silences and started filling the void with words. Any words. “We’ve had some very … uh … very good talks,” he began. “We’re going to have a talk now and obviously that will continue.” Putin looked down, trying not to smirk. They both had Russian-to-English translators but the Americans had clearly forgotten to bring an English-to-English translator.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/07/upper-hand-trump-and-putins-body-language-shows-whos-the-boss