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Emmanuel Macron became the first EU leader to meet US president Donald Trump since his return to power as the pair discussed the ongoing war in Ukraine with Russia in the White House
Donald Trump has reasserted his ‘alpha power’ over other world leaders with the simple use of a handshake, said one body language expert.
The US president today met with France’s President Emmanuel Macron at the White House in Washington, where they met to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine before delivering a joint press conference. However, the pair’s meeting got off to a rocky start as Macron, the first EU leader to meet Trump since his return to the Oval Office, was initially only met by one of the latter’s representatives.
When the world leaders eventually met, a game of power play seemingly ensued. Judi James told the Mirror: “[Trump’s] ‘death grip’ handshake and the accompanying flotilla of other power gestures suggest Trump is back in classic form when it comes to registering superior physical alpha-based power over other world leaders.
“Macron is the man who once beat Trump at his own game though, gripping his hand in a shake of such ferocity that you could see the imprint of his fingers on Trump’s flesh for several moments after they broke away.”
Trump’s handshake takes on a deeper significance, Judi argued, given the ongoing peace talks with Vladimir Putin to bring an end to the war in Ukraine, three years on since Russia invaded its neighbour. “Here he seems to take Trump on with one of his own ‘lethal’ handshake techniques, which is the ‘shake and yank’, where the clasped hands are jerked so hard in one direction that it de-stabilises the victim as they seek to regain balance.
“This particular shake seems symbolic of Trump’s current approach to brokering peace: his verbal ‘attacks’ seem to de-stabilise those ‘victims’ too in what looks like a first stage in taking control of the action,” she added.
A number of further physical gestures between the two occurred, including shoulder claps from Trump and Macron even holding his own bicep during one moment, as they each attempted to assert dominance over the other. Judi noted: “Trump power-pats Macron with a parental-power clap on the shoulder. Macron responds with a bicep clasp to signal fearlessness.
“Macron also places his hand over the clasped hands in another signal of a desire to control. But then both men turn to the cameras, with Trump clamping Macron’s hand for the ‘death grip’ as the shake endures for seconds more than usual. The clasp looks more like a juddering tussle, suggesting both men are keen to both dominate and to fight their own corner.”
