The tense meeting that took place between Pres. Donald Trump and Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelensky has gotten a lot of attention. Even the vice president was taking part in it, and it certainly did get heated at times.
Sometimes, you just wonder what is actually going on behind the scenes, especially when you see political leaders acting such as this. Fortunately, we have the feedback from body language expert, Judi James. She went beyond the voices and showed what was truly taking place.
WATCH: Full Heated Exchange between President Trump, Vice President Vance and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in the Oval Office. pic.twitter.com/oMJUGPqbSU
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 28, 2025
The body language expert said that the encounter showed that Donald Trump was the ‘alpha male’ and he was in a state of ‘aggressive arousal’ during the heated exchange.
The body language he was displaying was very calculated to show his dominance over the Ukraine president. He was working hard to be in complete control of the conversation.
James 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.”
When he raised his finger, it was usually in terms of the ultimate authority symbol but this wasn’t even enough to stop the heated exchange.
‼️A heated back and forth between @ZelenskyyUa, @POTUS, and @VP now in the Oval. pic.twitter.com/j1YCy4Jm3K
— Misha Komadovsky (@komadovsky) February 28, 2025
Trump had an extreme amount of frustration as the confrontation continued. James said: “Trump shouted that Zelensky was ‘gambling with WW3.’ His face became red with his state of aggressive arousal, and he frowned in what looked like disbelief.”
You could really see how strong of a moment it was for both of them.
Zelensky may not have had the cards but he was not passive in the conversation. He had the same amount of energy, standing his ground in the face of a very difficult situation. She said that he had a sense of ‘relentless energy’. This sent a message, that he was not going to be in the back seat with the discussion about the country’s future.
James also talked about the vice president, saying that he was like “the grain of sand that irritates the oyster to produce the pearl
“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.”
In the end, she said that they were like ‘actors leaving the stage’.