Trump’s ‘Odd’ Body Language During Meeting With Chinese President Spoke Volumes, Experts Say
Minister Donald Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping Thursday in South Korea tariff negotiations The US president then gave a point “12” on a scale of 1 to 10.
But the leaders’ handshake sparked a separate conversation, with Fox News’ Michelle Backus saying the conversation showed Trump was “in control” of the situation.
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“And you see how he shook his hand, President Trump is in control of that room, and I have a lot of confidence in that meeting,” Backus said.
Again Critics found this flattery a bit muchThis raised the question of what body language might actually say about the dynamics between the two men. HuffPost spoke to body language experts to better understand what’s going on in the parts of their conversations we can see, and their answers were telling.
President Donald Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and their greetings and farewells were noted by body language experts. Getty Images/Huffpost
Trump knows how to achieve the “position of power”, at least in the first place.
It’s no secret that appearing strong is important to Trump, and his efforts were on full display at the beginning of his meeting with Xi.
First, Trump positioned himself on the left; This sought-after “position of power” gives him visual “superiority” in photographs. traci brownbody language expert and behavioral analyst told HuffPost:
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“Trump is on the left,” Brown said. “That’s the position of power; that’s what politicians fight for.”
There was one notable, out-of-character move by Trump at the beginning.Patti Woodbody language and nonverbal communication expert and author of “SNAP: Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language, and Charisma.” Although he may have made the “first act” of shaking hands (which usually indicates the most force), the position of his hands may tell a different story.
“Having seen him shake hands hundreds of times and analyzing it, it was interesting that in the first greeting, Trump turned and put his palm up,” Wood said. “Usually that’s not his style, because it’s a plea: ‘I have less strength, palms up, I’m less strong.'”
Brown also notes that the “palms up” gesture can also indicate a “hospitality and hospitable mentality.”
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As the exchange continued, Trump continued to use more of the power moves that are familiar if you keep up with the body language typical of such exchanges: essentially pushing the other party closer to where he wants (while also engaging in other forms of touching) and trying to determine when the action will begin and end.
“Trump is reaching out to pat Jinping on the back,” Brown added. “This could be a show of control; Trump can move Jinping if he wants.”
And that physicality is pretty consistent: “Trump is doing something he often does, [Xi’s] Deliver in front of your body. So instead of standing and doing a normal handshake, he prefers to pull with a dominant gesture,” Wood noted.
“He takes her left hand and arm and caresses her back. There are two symbols for this: A caress can be an affectionate gesture or it can indicate ‘I’m in charge’… Saying ‘I can hit you and I can hit you on the world stage’ would be another signal of dominance.”
Wood says that holding the hand for a long time is noticed in these photo shoots, and these rituals are not traditionally performed. “Once again, this has become more standard for Trump, but typically in these situations where world leaders come together on the world stage, in full view, there is not a handshake that turns into a fighting grip.”
The handshake also negates rituals.
While there are various protocols and cultural differences, Wood notes that typically a handshake consists of about three to five pumps. And it’s rare for the shaking to last until journalists start asking questions; This is what happened in the meeting between Trump and Xi.
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“You can see that Xi Jinping is ready to end. Nonverbally, one of the signals is that he’s leaning slightly, both his shoulder and his head are tilted a little bit away, he’s turning towards the journalist and he’s responding face to face. Trump has turned slightly towards Xi Jinping and he’s just holding on,” Wood said. “A normal handshake means equal distance between two people. But when Trump pulls the hand away and holds it in front of him, he says, ‘I’m in charge, I’m in control, I’m going to win.'”
Examining greeting rituals and their symbolic significance, Wood noted that the handshake ritual traditionally means a gesture of peace. It’s literally meant to show that you don’t have a weapon in your hand or arm (that’s what the shake is for). This means initiating the beginning of the “game” and acknowledging that the two parties meeting are on equal footing.
“What Trump is pointing to is the antithesis of the normal handshake, which is equality,” Wood says. “He says, ‘We are both safe here and we are both equal here.’ Instead of a ritual, it’s: ‘I want to show you that I can win, that I have the power, and I won’t let you go.’”
U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron pose for photos at a summit of world leaders on ending the Gaza war on October 13, 2025, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Suzanne Plunkett/Pool Photo via AP
The exchange ends with a non-dominant closure.
While his initial dynamic with Xi suggests Trump maintains his dominance, Wood notes that the post-negotiation handshake may tell a different story.
“After the negotiations, Trump does something I’ve seen him do more often, he whispers in our ear. We all want to know what he said, but the symbolic meaning of it is that they have a secret,” Wood said. “We don’t know what is true, but symbolically it seems to us that Trump is telling him something. There is a secret between them.”
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After analyzing hundreds of these conversations, Wood found that it wasn’t inherently strange, and that often leaders would part ways after the handshake ritual with a laugh or a joke or a clear moment when the tension was released and they were able to return to being “themselves” again.
“They often have a laughing reaction, almost like two friends,” Wood said, “and there’s a forced grin in Trump’s final handshake.”
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands after a bilateral meeting at Gimhae Air Base in Busan, South Korea, on October 30, 2025. Andrew Harnik via Getty Images
From here on, the dominance indicator starts to lose its power. One thing to know, according to Wood, is that such televised meetings between leaders on the world stage are highly formalized. There are people throughout the event informing all parties about protocol and where to go. They also usually have time to practice or are given explicit instruction.
In Trump’s case, he asked for directions and eventually walked Xi to his car.
“They will usually land in the neutral spot at the bottom of the stairs and go their own way,” Wood said. “It’s weird because symbolically it would make it look like Trump had less power. To me, it was weird and symbolically it looked like Trump had less power because he walked towards the car and got lost; he just didn’t know where to go.”
“Again, because I’ve read a lot of this: They usually practice beforehand, or are told in advance, and remember which direction to go. This is very strange. I think it’s important to say that this is not normal.”
And despite all attempts to explode, the whining of this ending is also notable for its non-verbal communication. Just as the primacy effect makes the first move more memorable, the recency effect allows more focus on the last move.
“We have the primacy effect on the first handshake, and the effect on the last handshake is the last handshake,” Wood said. “It took a lot of effort to look strong in the first greeting handshake, and by the final handshake it started to look not so strong. The recency effect is the last thing you say or do.”
