Thread by @DrGJackBrown

THREAD: Body Language Analysis No. 4356: Donald Trump: "When I can, I tell the truth" • • #Nonverbal #BodyLanguage #BodyLanguageExpert #EmotionalIntelligence #DonaldTrump #Lying #Lie #Deception #WhenICanITellTheTruth #DupingDelight #Hubris #Braggadocio

1/ On Thursday 1 November 2018, Jonathan Karl of ABC News interviewed President Trump. One of Trump's responses went particularly viral. What follows is a partial nonverbal analysis of this interview.

2/ JONATHAN KARL (continuing at 3:49): "And finally, I remember, you remember - well on the campaign, you made a promise, you said, 'I will never lie to you'. So, can you tell me now, honestly, have you - kept that promise at all times? Have you always been truthful?"

3/ DONALD TRUMP: (over-talking) "Well I try, I mean I do try, I think you try too. You say things about me that are not - necessarily correct. I do try and - ah, I always wanna tell the truth - when I can, I tell the truth...."

4/ "...I mean sometimes it turns out to be where something happens - it's different or there's a change - but I always like to be truthful."

5/ Throughout the great majority of this entire exchange with Karl (including further back in this interview [beginning at 2:12] as the President answers questions regarding the ongoing diaspora of Central American people walking north through Mexico), ...

6/ ... Trump looks down and to HIS right (with both eyes and to a lesser degree, his head and neck).

7/ Eye contact during deception is an intriguing phenomenon. When someone is telling a lie, the percentage of eye contact they have with the other person (or the camera) is biphasic. It almost always either increases (& thus, often takes on the feel of staring) - or it decreases.

8/ Moreover, when their eye contact does decrease, the quadrant to which the liar most often looks is THEIR lower right quadrant (exactly what we see here).

9/ Notice too, the words President Trump used. He never said, "Yes", "Always", "I'm always truthful", "One-hundred percent" - rather Trump said:

• "Well I try"
• "I do try"
• "I always wanna tell the truth"
• "when I can, I tell the truth"
• "I always like to be truthful"

10/ Such hedging, whether in written or verbal form, are profound statement analysis tells indicative of deception.

11/ In addition, Donald Trump immediately proceeds with the premise that Jonathan Karl also lies when he says, "I think you try too. You say things about me that are not - necessarily correct".

12/ This is a manipulative method known as Forced Teaming (de Becker). It's as if to say, "We're in this together Jon - you and me" - and - You lie too Jonathan, everybody lies, but we all try not to".

13/ Now flashback to an earlier portion of this interview.

14/ Beginning as Trump says (continuing at 2:31), "... you have caravans coming up that, look a lot larger than it's reported, actually, I mean I'm pretty good at - estimating crowd size - and I will tell you - they look a lot bigger than people would think ..."

15/ From 2:31 to 2:39 Trump displays a combination of a Suppressed Smile along with what is known as a Lip Curl. Please watch the above video - as any still image does not capture the dynamic nature of this nonverbal behavior.

16/ In this context, a suppressed smile is what is a nonverbal phenomenon termed as Duping Delight (Ekman) - which is a form of body language 'leaking' - wherein the person displaying it, is taking true joy in THEIR belief that they're successfully deceiving people.

17/ It's crucial to emphasize here that you don't have to agree at all with the ethics of their lying or their motive. Moreover, they may not be fooling anyone at all - but THEY believe they are doing so.

18/ A lip curl (note the outward curl of Trump's upper left lip) signals Hubris, Braggadocio, & Bravado. Trump tends to have a slight lisp when he displays his lip curls (both in this example & on other occasions). This is best exemplified as he says the word "size" during 2:37.

19/ Notice too, that during 2:36 - 2:39, Trump's shoulders elevate slightly as he puffs up his chest (and perhaps elevates a bit on his toes).

20/ While not a required component of either a lip curl or duping delight, these additional dynamics add to this particular body language sentence - a nonverbal grouping called a cluster.

21/ These extra components serve as amplifiers - of both the joy he has in the act of deceiving - as well as his hubris, braggadocio, and bravado.

22/ SUMMARY: During this interview, Donald Trump is looking down to his right the vast majority of the time - the direction of gaze to which most people look during the diminished eye contact of deception.

continued ...

23/ Trump also demonstrates classic nonverbal tells indicating he takes pleasure and hubris in the belief he's successfully perpetrating his lies.

END