A body language expert has given their thoughts on a moment of ‘disbelief’ during peace talks at the Oval Office between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump.
On February 28, the Ukrainian president traveled to Washington DC to meet with President Trump and his Vice President JD Vance…and things didn’t go so well.
Trump has been seen inviting several heads of state to the White House, such as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and France’s Emmanuel Macron, and while they went as well as can be expected, his meeting with Zelenskyy wasn’t great.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump clashed in the Oval Office (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
Not only did the 78-year-old accuse Zelenskyy of ‘gambling with World War 3’ due to the country’s war with Russia, he was also seen with ‘aggressive arousal’ and red faced as the pair shouted at one another.
“You don’t have the cards right now,” Trump stated to the Ukrainian. “With us, you start having cards … You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people! You’re gambling with World War 3! You’re gambling with World War 3. And what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country — this country.”
Judi James, a body language expert has since thrown her two cents into the mix of some moments during the talks that showed ‘disbelief’, and if you’ve not watched the conversation, you’ll be interested to see what she’s talking about.
Take a peek:
According to James, Vice President JD Vance played the ‘wingman’ in the scenario, pulling no punches and making sure to rile up the Ukrainian leader as Trump cannot be seen to act this way.
Speaking with DailyMail.com, she said that Vance was ‘like the grain of sand that irritates the oyster to produce the pearl’ when arguing with Zelenskyy, stating: “In animal terms it would be appropriate for a wingman to get into a verbal conflict but not the alpha, who cannot be replaced or be seen losing.”
Of course, so when Trump joined in the argument and stopped the two men from shouting, there was obvious frustration around the room.
But disbelief?
You’d better believe it.
James explained it was when Trump lost his cool and began to get heated that he showed the body language signs of being baffled by Zelenskyy’s words.
She said: “Trump finally stepped in, taking the battle-baton from JD with a ‘No no no!’ and a raising of both hands to stop the fight.
The spat led to Trump feeling ‘disbelief’ (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“Having called himself a global peace-maker it was ironic to see him try to break up a junior verbal spat only to end up slugging away himself.
“Trump’s weapon of choice was the raised index finger or ultimate authority. It’s a strong commanding gesture that usually gets obeyed but here it failed to stop the row, with both Trump and Zelenskyy raising their voices in an overlap of shouting.”
She explained: “Trump shouted that Zelenskyy was ‘gambling with WW3’ His face became red with his state of aggressive arousal, and he frowned in what looked like disbelief.
“When he accused Zelenskyy of being ‘disrespectful’ his features pinched into a micro-sneer of anger.”
The argument was quite unlike anything we’d ever been seen in the Oval Office before, and people at home got to watch in shock as three politicians screamed at each other and fought to have the last word.