Exclusive:
An expert has pinpointed the moment the President of the United States was angered during his exchange with Volodymyr Zelensky, with JD Vance becoming “triggered”
Donald Trump calls Zelenskyy ‘disrespectful’ during meeting
Donald Trump exhibited clear “aggression” when speaking with Volodymyr Zelensky today as talks with the Ukrainian President explosively collapsed.
The Oval Office showdown saw talks between the US and Ukrainian Presidents – which were building towards the signing of a highly-anticipated rare earths agreement – disintegrate in real time. Members of the public watching saw Mr Trump’s usually orange-tinged face turn red as he and JD Vance rounded on their guest.
The Commander-in-Chief soon after called off the meeting, and Mr Zelensky has since cancelled his remaining public appointments in Washington DC, with seemingly no way back for the two leaders – at least for now. Analysts believe the flare of anger was more visible in Mr Trump, who broke composure and showed “aggression” during today’s ill-fated discussions.
Speaking to The Mirror, body language expert Judi James pinpointed the moment Mr Trump and Mr Zelensky exploded at one another, saying they “raised their voices to shout” and “talked over each other”. She added that a key sign of the President’s annoyance was registered via his poised index finger.
Dissecting the interaction between the two leaders, she explained: “This extraordinary, furious argument kicked off after a long period of rituals of friendship bordering on the usual ‘bromance’ between Zelensky and Trump. Photos had emerged of the two men sharing laughter and some tactile rituals and even on the build-up to the fight they appeared relaxed and in tune enough to perform a little banter with one saying ‘yes’ while the other said ‘no’, but with their heads inclined inward together like a good-humoured double act.
“Zelensky was seen to react to some of Trump’s points, especially mention of both Russian and Ukrainian losses and then mentions of the relationship between Trump and Putin with some mugging in terms of his facial expressions to suggest disagreement or that the President might be wrong. But then Zelensky leant forward in his seat to give a passionate history lesson and it was some point after that when Vance became triggered into intervening on behalf of his boss.
“Vance held both hands up as though conducting the action or scene or even Zelensky himself, at which point Zelensky swapped his pose of co-operation and negotiation to adopt the closed pose of sitting back in his seat with his arms firmly folded. He also looked away to suggest total cut-off barriered behaviour.
“Vance’s point that ‘You should be begging the President’ was an emotional rebuke. The row became heated and angry and at that point Trump did what few alphas do, which was to step into the fight himself. Vance fighting on Trump’s behalf was risky but seeing Trump enter the ring during a slugging match appeared insane.
“An alpha will usually leave the fighting to a deputy but Trump joined in with a ‘No no no’, with both hands raised in a state of aggressive arousal. Both Trump and Zelensky raised their voices to a shout, and they talked over each other. Trump raised one index finger firmly in the air to register authority, but the shouting increased. Trump yelled at Zelensky ‘You’re gambling with starting WW3’ His index finger waggled and was raised and he wore a frown of what looked like utter disbelief.
“Trump accused Zelensky of being ‘disrespectful of this country’ and as he did so his face performed a micro-expression of a wince or sneer of anger. Vance stepped back in to take over from his irate boss who was red in the face by this stage. Trump showed not only how he will head straight into a brawl and slug it out toe to toe but he did so with some asides to his ‘audience’ that seemed to turn the moment into his favour by showing ‘what I have to put up with’ from the Ukrainian leader.
“The ending could easily have come with a walk-out by one or both parties. But instead, there were some curious by-lines from all three men at the end of their fight. Zelensky did a thumbs up to the camera while Trump performed a knowing wink. Both men have been TV stars, and it looked oddly as though they’d just gone off set from one of the rows they have in ‘Real Housewives of…’ and both wanted to show they were cool and still in good spirits. Vance walked over and patted Trump’s arm as though to say ‘Well done’.”