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The\u00a0US President\u00a0was sending a secretive message during his handshake with Xi Jinping, according to a body language expert.<\/p>\n
Trump met his\u00a0Chinese\u00a0counterpart in Beijing earlier today (May 14), as he was given an imperial welcome to the East Asian nation.<\/p>\n
The 79-year-old’s motorcade made its way through Tiananmen Square, which was stacked with troops and cannon fire to mark the State visit.<\/p>\n
However, viewers may have noticed something about Trump’s first interaction with Xi, as a body language expert told the\u00a0Daily Mail\u00a0that the power dynamics were on display from this point.<\/p>\n
Apparently, the President conducted himself\u00a0differently than normal, using eye contact and a giveaway ‘bullfrog smile,’ which was one of many indicators of the relationship between the world leaders.<\/p>\n
Body language expert analyzes the handshake<\/p>\n
Speaking to the Daily Mail, body language expert Judi James revealed that the handshake was very telling, as Trump made the first move, despite Xi being the host.<\/p>\n
She said: “It was Trump instigating the handshake by throwing his own hand out, palm tilted upward, from a few paces away.<\/p>\n
“The one instigating the shake gets an early sense of dominance, which is why it is usually the host.”<\/p>\n
The handshake between Trump and Xi lasted a full 10 seconds, with the former administering a number of small pats which may have been more meaningful than we’d thought.<\/p>\n
James added: “When the hands are juddering together, Trump pats Xi’s hand, twice at first, then three times with the first of the third pats being prolonged in a move that suggests a desire to cement the relationship.”<\/p>\n
Comparison to previous State trips<\/p>\n
But while it looked like the relationship was warm, it was nothing compared to the friendliness shown between Trump and Putin last year.<\/p>\n
“Trump used strong, enquiring-looking eye contact as they engaged in some chat … with none of the joking, animated playfulness that we saw during Putin’s visit,” James highlighted.<\/p>\n
The meeting was Trump’s first in-person with Xi since the start of the Iran war in February, though the US leader loosened up after he saw some flag-waving children greeting him, causing him to smile back.<\/p>\n
James said: “He then began to use a series of approval, bonding pats on Xi’s arm as they walked together to increase the idea of friendship.”<\/p>\n
Exchanges in the Great Hall<\/p>\n
Taking to the Great Hall, Xi opened up about what’s known as the Thucydides Trap, which is the ancient Greek historian’s account of Athens and Sparta.<\/p>\n
It is used when an established power senses danger and feels threatened by a rising civilization.<\/p>\n
The Chinese leader asked Trump across the table: “The world has come to a new crossroads. Can China and the US overcome the Thucydides Trap and create a new paradigm?”<\/p>\n
Over the course of the two-hour summit, Xi said that if Taiwan is ‘mishandled,’ there may be a clash or conflict between the US and China, negatively affecting the relationship.<\/p>\n
Trump was not shy to praise Xi before the summit began, stating: “It’s an honor to be with you, it’s an honor to be your friend, and the relationship between China and the USA is\u00a0going to be better than ever before.”<\/p>\n
He said that the welcome was ‘an honor like few have ever seen before,’ as James spoke of the summit’s setting and what it showed.<\/p>\n
She pointed out: “The meeting room was huge, but the layout of the tables was actually relatively intimate by normal Chinese government standards, suggesting a desire from Xi to indulge in more direct and functional face-to-face discussions.”<\/p>\n
James noticed that Trump’s posture revealed that he’d put his game face on, upon taking a seat, claiming he put on ‘a pose of a relaxed but serious heavyweight alpha at the table.’<\/p>\n
Exchanges in the Great Hall<\/p>\n
Taking to the Great Hall, Xi opened up about what’s known as the Thucydides Trap, which is the ancient Greek historian’s account of Athens and Sparta.<\/p>\n
It is used when an established power senses danger and feels threatened by a rising civilization.<\/p>\n
The Chinese leader asked Trump across the table: “The world has come to a new crossroads. Can China and the US overcome the Thucydides Trap and create a new paradigm?”<\/p>\n
Over the course of the two-hour summit, Xi said that if Taiwan is ‘mishandled,’ there may be a clash or conflict between the US and China, negatively affecting the relationship.<\/p>\n
Trump was not shy to praise Xi before the summit began, stating: “It’s an honor to be with you, it’s an honor to be your friend, and the relationship between China and the USA is\u00a0going to be better than ever before.”<\/p>\n
He said that the welcome was ‘an honor like few have ever seen before,’ as James spoke of the summit’s setting and what it showed.<\/p>\n
She pointed out: “The meeting room was huge, but the layout of the tables was actually relatively intimate by normal Chinese government standards, suggesting a desire from Xi to indulge in more direct and functional face-to-face discussions.”<\/p>\n
James noticed that Trump’s posture revealed that he’d put his game face on, upon taking a seat, claiming he put on ‘a pose of a relaxed but serious heavyweight alpha at the table.’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The\u00a0US President\u00a0was sending a secretive message during his handshake with Xi Jinping, according to a body language expert. Trump met his\u00a0Chinese\u00a0counterpart in Beijing earlier today (May 14), … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/heightshowtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/heightshowtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/heightshowtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heightshowtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heightshowtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8975"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/heightshowtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8977,"href":"https:\/\/heightshowtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8975\/revisions\/8977"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heightshowtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/heightshowtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heightshowtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heightshowtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}