1 of 36/ Body Language and Behavior Analysis No. 4753: Donald Trump denying calling fallen military heroes "suckers and losers" – Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence #BodyLanguageExpert #BodyLanguage #BehaviorAnalysis #EmotionalIntelligence #NonverbalCommunication
2 of 36/ On Saturday 22 June 2024, during his event in Washington DC, Donald Trump defended accusations against him calling US military members "suckers and losers".
What follows are body language and statement analyses of this video clip.
3 of 36/ Above is a shorter segment of Trump's behavior in this context. Here's a longer segment of this same statement/speech:
4 of 36/ Note, in the first 2/3rds of the sentence, "I was better than any president ever to our military", Trump is retracting (flexing) the index finger (forefinger) of his right hand at the first joint past the knuckle (the proximal interphalangeal joint).
5 of 36/ Trump is right-handed. With respect to body language, the index finger of the dominant hand is the most powerful and dominant digit on either hand.
6 of 36/ In general, *without any accompanying spoken words* – retracting a hand (especially the dominant hand) and/or the index finger on either hand signals low confidence and high emotional discomfort. ...
7 of 36/ ...But, *when making a statement or answering a question* while retracting the most dominant digit on the dominant hand – is an extremely high indicator of lying. This is a common tell during deception – particularly with Trump.
8 of 36/ If we look a few seconds earlier, as he says, "I'm the exact [self-interruption]", Trump briefly displays the same dominant index finger retraction body language.
9 of 36/ Even earlier in the video he displays this once again as he says, "by a third rate magazine". Trump is lying and does not believe this to be true.
10 of 36/ It's important to contrast this with other occasions during this same clip, when Trump's hand was oppositely configured – retracting (flexing) all the other digits on his right hand while extending his dominant index finger (aka index finger pointing).
11 of 36/ Index finger pointing is hyper-dominant and offensive. It's negatively received across all cultures. But, not surprisingly, it's *frequently* used by those with manipulative and pathological personalities.
12 of 36/ Now contrast these two body language signals. The dominant-finger-retraction-tell (retracting dominance) has the opposite configuration of an index finger point (projecting dominance).
13 of 36/ Did you notice Trump's facial expression at about 1 second before the very end of this video? He displays a Tight Tongue Jut – signaling his disdain, disgust, and repulsion.
14 of 36/ Be careful not to confuse a Tight Tongue Jut with a Loose Tongue Jut or a Wide Open Tongue Jut – as these indicate completely different thought-emotions.
15 of 36/ During the entire speech, in his effort to refute the story, when referring to the fallen military heroes, Trump repeated "suckers and losers" multiple times.
16 of 36/ This is a common sadist's/manipulator's trick – under the guise of defending themselves, they poke the original wound over and over.
17 of 36/ Thereby giving themselves license to repeat their original insult several times and re-inflicting verbal injury – whilst they're experiencing sadistic joy.
18 of 36/ Moreover, note that Donald Trump *never* speaks John Kelly's name (his first Chief-of-Staff) as the source/witness of the accusations. He only mentions "The Atlantic" Magazine who printed the story.
19 of 36/ Trump then outs himself again – for while maligning "The Atlantic" magazine, referring to (but not naming outright) Laurene Powell Jobs (Steve Jobs' widow), he says, "They got lucky, they got some sucker to fund it for a little while, some stupid sucker."
https://youtu.be/iXf22VE-f4I
20 of 36/ So in the very midst of his denying calling fallen military "suckers and losers", Trump proceeds to twice call a widow a "sucker" as well as "dumb" and "stupid" – while showing profound disrespect toward another deceased person – Steve Jobs.
21 of 36/ This is a massive Freudian slip and self-own. Trump is saying he would never say these things about the dead – and then while defending himself, he openly disrespects the dead and calls someone else a "sucker".
22 of 36/ The importance of the word "sucker" in these contexts cannot be overstated.
A person who *repeatedly* sees others as "suckers" is a con man.
23 of 36/ To add insult to injury, Trump says, "she took his money". This level of misogyny is light years beyond the pale.
24 of 36/ Trump also displays another Tight Tongue Jut (disdain, disgust, repulsion) after he says, "you dumb – I shoulda never ..." (directed at Laurene Powell Jobs).
25 of 36/ Contrast this against the Loose Tongue Jut (§) that Trump displayed when he said "I woulda said that woulda [sic] been, ahhh [§], justified for somebody to start taking swings at me – as president".
26 of 36/ A Loose Tongue Jut indicates:
• Deception
• "I've been bad"
• "I just said/about to say a stupid thing"
• "I've been/about to be caught"
27 of 36/ Note also, Trump *never* says "I didn't say that" (or similar). He doesn't deny it. Instead he says, "Who would do such a thing?", and "You say it's not true" (not, "It's not true"), and "Who would say it?"
28 of 36/ When Trump also says, "There's nobody that's stupid enough to make that statement" – he's angry at himself for being this "stupid" – to let his true feelings be shown, especially to John Kelly (whose son was killed in battle in Afghanistan).
Trump fears John Kelly.
29 of 36/ Trump also said, "Even if you hated the military, you wouldn't say that".
This is another example of Trump, while under the guise of defending himself – stating what he actually thinks and how he truly feels.
30 of 36/ When Trump said, "Looking down, at graves, saying suckers, they make it up, suckers and losers", he is reliving his original disparaging events at Arlington National Cemetery and at Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in France.
https://youtu.be/ENHSJAASPCo
31 of 36/ Trump's palm-down, fingers splayed display is a dominant display of subjugation and control. He is painting a false scenario – Trump is reliving these actual cemetery events (as he again calls them "suckers and losers").
32 of 36/ SUMMARY: While we can certainly fact-check this story by other means (John Kelly, you're long overdue for a video interview), Donald Trump's body language tells us General Kelly's account of the facts are true: Trump did call fallen military heroes "suckers and losers".
33 of 36/ Moreover, Donald Trump feels disdain, disgust, and repulsion toward – as well as subjugation and control over – members of the military.
Trump also fears John Kelly.
34 of 36/ Additionally, Trump also feels disdain, disgust, and repulsion toward Laurene Powell Jobs. He also demonstrates deep misogyny toward Ms. Powell Jobs – as well as exhibiting a profound disrespect toward Steve Jobs.
35 of 36/While in the very act of trying to refute allegations of him calling fallen military heroes "suckers and losers", Trump uses some of the exact same language ("sucker") toward Ms. Powell Jobs & profoundly disrespects the deceased (Steve Jobs). Trump is telling on himself.
36 of 36/ Inquiries regarding teaching (one-on-one or groups), keynotes, consulting, and press: [email protected]
Ω
