Daring Macron risks angering Trump in touchy-feely White House showdown
There were hugs, back slaps and touching knees as Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron revived their tactile displays of diplomacy in the Oval Office.
Yet the French president made an unusually daring move on Monday as the leaders jostled to use body language as a power play.
Mr Trump, who tries to exude an alpha male supremacy, likes to 'get the upper hand in close combat sports', explained Prof Geoffrey Beattie, a body language expert from Edge Hill University, who noted the US president's love of handshake diplomacy.
However, during Mr Macron's visit to the White House to present a European plan for peace in Ukraine, 'he contested Trump's right to dominate the interaction', the psychologist said, adding: 'It was no longer the boss and the apprentice.'
In a particularly tense moment, Mr Macron, 47, interrupted his 78-year-old counterpart as Mr Trump falsely claimed that Europe was 'loaning' money to Ukraine and would get 'their money back'.
Mr Macron put his hand on Mr Trump's arm and carefully corrected him: 'No, in fact, to be frank, we paid 60 per cent of the total default.'
Like the US, he said, it was through a mix of grants, loans and guarantees, adding: 'We provided real money, to be clear.'
This physical interjection was a 'daring move in this body language politics … and one that is uncommon in interactions with American leaders', Prof Beattie said.
He added: 'He is wrestling for control of the interaction, by stopping him gesturing or interrupting. Trump looks surprised, and it takes him a few seconds to remember how to put on a patronising face.'
In doing so, Prof Beattie said Mr Trump was forced to change his power strategy and so 'turns to the reporters in the room, looking for a kind of alliance, waving his other free hand to say, 'I don't believe this''.
'It is as if he is saying: 'Give the boy a chance,' in a patronising way,' he said.
Throughout the press conference, which took place on the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Mr Macron had been unusually forthright in his gestures that told Mr Trump 'not to interrupt', Prof Beattie said.
During Mr Trump's first term, Mr Macron was one of the first world leaders to fight back against the US president's trick of accepting handshakes and then yanking world leaders off-balance.
In an infamous incident in 2017, he gave Mr Trump a white-knuckle handshake and the squeezing duel left white finger marks on his hand.
A year later, Mr Trump took hold of Mr Macron's hand and practically dragged him into the Oval Office in an overt – and well-photographed – symbol of dominance.
On Monday, Mr Macron also made it clear he disagreed with Mr Trump on key points, including clearly labelled Russia as the 'aggressor', a point on which Mr Trump wavered last week when he wrongly accused Ukraine of starting the war.
The two presidents' high-profile meeting came amid a growing rift between Washington and Europe over Ukraine, following a major policy shift by the Trump administration to restart diplomacy with Russia.
But both leaders appeared on the charm offensive as Mr Macron hailed their 'friendship from your first term', while Mr Trump ended the conference telling the Frenchman to 'say hello to your beautiful wife'.
Prof Beattie said: 'From the footage, it's clear Trump doesn't want to go head-to-head with Macron, but he does want to come out as the winner.
'He is a narcissist, who wants to seem untouchable, but we all know he is thin-skinned.'
He added that Mr Macron, at times, clearly had more to say but yielded the floor to Mr Trump in a clear sign that 'he is still playing the subordinate role'.
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