President Trump appeared to be trying to “connect” with Chinese President Xi Jinping, rather than “dominate” him, during the White House state dinner honoring the Chinese leader, according to a body language expert.
Sean Johns, who has spent two decades studying nonverbal communication and founded the body language training company BodyLytics, told The Post that Trump seemed intent on making Xi feel welcome and respected throughout the high-stakes visit — from their first handshake to the president’s toast.
Johns said Trump “closed the distance” and moved toward Xi during the arrival ceremony on the North Portico, behavior he described as “not typical for Donald Trump.”
“Closing the distance between people is a way of trying to connect. In a sense, you’re creating a connection by closing that gap,” he explained.
“What we’re looking at with this handshake is what was absent,” Johns said. “Donald Trump is known for an aggressive handshake. He tends to shake for too long and will often grab someone by the arm.
“But he didn’t do that with President Xi.”
The way Trump handled the handshake was “more of a sign of respect,” according to the body language analyst.
“I don’t think he was trying to dominate, which is what he usually does,” Johns said. He noted that Trump often makes his handshakes and back pats particularly forceful, “depending on who he’s dealing with.”
“This showed a great deal of respect for [Xi],” he continued. “It was very much a two-sided exchange.” Both leaders, Johns added, “looked quite comfortable around each other,” with neither appearing to engage in a dominance display.
Johns also noticed what he called a brief “false smile” at the end of the handshake — an expression Trump would later repeat during his toast to Xi.
Several moments during the toast showed what Johns described as an “incongruence” between Trump’s words and his body language.
Trump stressed that “we’re delighted to have you here,” but Johns said there was no corresponding physical display of delight. “The words were positive, but the body language was neutral,” he said, noting that Trump did this twice.
When Trump said, “We’re happily celebrating,” Johns added, “it didn’t look like he was happily celebrating. It looked like protocol.”
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Another moment that caught Johns’ attention came when Trump departed from his prepared remarks to invite guests to tour the new White House ballroom, which remains under construction.
“That’s the first time you see a genuine smile,” Johns said. “He almost came across like a naughty schoolboy.”
Trump became more animated and forceful while discussing the ballroom than he had been during any other part of the toast or his interactions with Xi.
“He makes his first hand gesture, bearing in mind that his hands had been down the entire time,” Johns observed.
Trump then pointed directly at the camera. “In body language, pointing with the index finger is considered aggressive,” Johns said, adding that Trump’s words and physical expression were once again “not congruent.”
“You’re making a slightly aggressive finger-pointing gesture while talking about a ‘beautiful ballroom,’” he said.
“There’s a disconnect between the way the ballroom was being presented and all the drama surrounding it,” Johns said. “His body language delivered a clear message.”
Based on his body language, the president was also genuinely pleased with the large, bald eagle statue he gifted Xi at the dinner.
“When they reveal the bald eagle statue, Trump does, kind of, two awkward steps … I think that was a closing distance gesture between him and the statue,” Johns said.
“It’s showing approval towards it almost. You get close to things you like. So he’s closed the distance and then, interestingly, he’s kind of does an exaggerated look at it and then looks back at Xi …. he’s trying to signal to him, ‘Look at the wonderful statue that we gave you.’”
Johns’ biggest takeaway was the “lack of physical, non-verbal aggression” throughout the dinner that Trump “usually shows certain people.”
“I think that what it shows to me is the amount of respect and perhaps the importance of the meeting and the fact that it was an important guest that had importance to even the economy, I would say,” he explained.
“So he took that very seriously, aside from the odd joke or two.”
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