Donald Trump was apparently “disrespectful” towards French President Emmanuel Macron when they shook hands in front of flashing cameras.
World leaders know that every word they utter and every gesture they make in public is recorded for viewers across the globe. So everything they do is a calculated move.
Body language experts decoded what was strange and unusual about the US president’s handshake with his French counterpart this week.
Donald Trump was apparently “disrespectful” towards Emmanuel Macron when they shook hands this week
Image credits: Getty/Anna Moneymaker
Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron had a much-talked-about interaction at the G7 summit on Monday, June 15.
Experts noticed something off about Trump’s handshake ahead of their discussion at the Evian-les-Bains in France.
The two leaders, aged 80 and 48, normally have a tug-of-war kind of energy when they greet each other. But Trump apparently had a “de*d fish” handshake this time, said one expert.
Image generated by Bored Panda using Gemini (not the actual photo)
“Trump is literally hanging his hand downward,” Denise Dudley, a clinical psychologist and behavioral expert, told Huffington Post.
The expert said this was a classic case of the “de*d fish” handshake, where the other person has no choice but to “do all the work.”
Though his handshake with Macron didn’t seem to have enough energy, experts took special note of how he spent 13 seconds shaking the hand of French first lady Brigitte Macron.
This type of handshake could be an indicator of the power dynamics, experts said
Image credits: Getty/Anadolu
In a “de*d fish” handshake, forcing another person to do all the work can be an indicator of the power dynamics.
It suggests, “I’m not going to give you my full energy. I’m not going to acknowledge you as an equal,” Dudley explained.
This kind of handshake would normally be seen as a rude gesture in corporate settings. In the political world, it could be a sign of the relationship between two countries.
“Handshakes tell you what’s going on deeply unconsciously with people,” said Traci Brown, a body language expert and behavior analyst.
Even though the US president called Macron a “very special friend” during the summit, the handshake could have been his signaling of the current state of US relations with France.
“Trump should be treating him like an equal, but he’s not,” Dudley said.
Behavioral scientist Abbie Maroño agreed that the handshake with the French president was a “limp handshake for sure.”
“He’s very passive, almost like it’s not worth his time... It felt so passive that it was disrespectful,” Maroño told the outlet.
Even the lack of eye contact from Trump indicated a possible disinterest in the meetup, as he gave off a “God give me strength, I’m about to do this thing that I don’t want to do” vibe, according to Dudley.
“It felt so passive that it was disrespectful,” one expert said about the handshake
Image credits: Getty/Anna Moneymaker
It was also possible that Trump was reeling from his late-night birthday celebrations, experts said.
The night before meeting Macron, the US president joined thousands of other mixed martial arts fans to watch an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event, hosted on the White House lawn in honor of his 80th birthday and America's 250th birthday.
American fighter Justin Gaethje beat Spanish-Georgian opponent Ilia Topuria in the main event, winning the lightweight championship title.
Image credits: Getty/Anna Moneymaker
Brown said Trump may have been tired from the late-night celebrations and hence didn’t give his usual “yank-and-grab” handshake.
“It seems like someone stayed up too late,” she told the outlet. “He’s there in body, but that’s it.”
“It’s off-brand for him,” she added. “His brand is power and force, and so this is the exact opposite of that.”
Trump may have also been tired from his late-night birthday celebrations, thus not having the energy to give his usual “yank-and-grab” handshake
Image credits: Getty/Pool
Pointing out Trump’s lack of participation in the handshake could indicate that he’s not putting “energy” into “Macron, or possibly this event.”
“This is a classic situation of words saying one thing and the body saying the other,” Maroño said. “And whenever the words and the body say different things. I always kind of lean towards what a body’s saying.”
Image credits: potus
Years back, when Trump first moved to the most famous address in Washington in 2017 and Macron won his own political race in the French elections, they both had an infamous handshake at a NATO summit in Brussels the same year.
At the time, they both clenched each other’s hands for longer than most people who meet for the first time would.
People saw it as a sign of neither leader wanting to be the first to break the grip.
“My handshake with him, it wasn't innocent,” Macron told a French outlet at the time.
“One must show that you won't make small concessions, even symbolic ones, but also not over-publicise things, either,” he added.
Netizens also took notice of Trump’s unusual demeanor while greeting the French president
