Putin looked like a moody teen who’d been dragged to his nan’s when he met Trump, body language expert reveals

THE smiles were few and far between when Donald Trump held his first official summit with Vladimir Putin earlier today.

The US President said he hoped for an “extraordinary relationship” as the two world leaders got to grips in Helsinki, Finland.

AP:Associated Press

However, some body language experts on Sky News compared the Russian Premier’s grumpy demeanour to that of a sulky teen who had been dragged along to his granny’s birthday party.

US-Russia relations have been strained by Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and by claims that the Kremlin helped Mr Trump win the 2016 election.

Tensions also are high as a result of ongoing accusations of Russian interference in the close-run 2016 US Presidential election.

Here body language analyst Judi James breaks down her opinion of the power pair’s true feelings…

“They looked about as likely to form an agreement as a pre-divorce couple at a last-ditch counselling session.

“Trump and Putin wore glum, unsmiling facial expressions for this summit meet-up and overall their body language made them look angry and reluctant to bond in any way.

“Both men looked like two sulky alphas with Trump sporting a mouth clamp and scowl for some of the meeting while Putin sat with a poker face.

“Trump’s fingertip tapping suggested irritation or impatience while Putin’s trait of wrapping one hand around the arm of his chair looked suspiciously like a desire to leave.

“Sitting apart both men adopted an alpha pose, with Trump in signature leg-splay slump mode,with his hands in the downward steeple gesture that signals ‘resting Silverback’.

“Their eye contact was minimal and cursory and when Trump did throw out a very small  olive twig of flattery about the World Cup, Putin listened impassively to the translated message.

“Trump likes to evaluate based on the attribution effect of three-second impact to see if he likes someone and in this case he might have quit and thrown in the towel early.

“He did stick out a hand to shake at the end of their conversation to camera but it was a long arm stretch for both men and the shake was totally lacking in any of the usual add-ons that Trump likes to use to bond or wrestle with other world leaders.

“After their last meeting there was a dramatic moment of thaw, when both moved closer and chatted animatedly after the cameras had been switched off but today it was  noticeable that after the lights went out the two leaders sat glumly and totally without any form of communication or desire for one.

“Trump may have a performance tucked in his back pocket and be aiming to emerge from the meeting hailing Putin as his new friend but there looks to be several layers of frost to work through to get to that point.”