Thread by @DrGJackBrown

THREAD: Body Language Analysis No. 4381: Trump 'jokes' about staying in office for "at least for 10 or 14 years" • • #Nonverbal #EmotionalIntelligence #BodyLanguage #BodyLanguageExpert #DonaldTrump #MuellerReport #BarrPressConference #TermLimits

1/ On Thursday 18 April 2019, in the East Room of the White House, President Trump hosted cyclists of the Wounded Warrior Project - Soldier Ride. This event took place after Attorney General William Barr's press conference regarding The Mueller Report.

2/ President Trump was given a small statue. Just afterward, he said (beginning at 1:14:21 in the above video): "Well, this is really beautiful. This will find a permanent place - at least for six years [audience laughter] in the Oval Office..."

3/ "... Is that okay? [audience laughter] I was going to joke, General, and say at least for ten or fourteen years, but we would cause bedlam [audience laughter] if I said that, so we’ll say six..."

4/ What follows is a partial nonverbal analysis of Donald Trump during several crucial moments of this exchange.

5/ During 1:14:24, just prior to Donald Trump saying, "... at least for six years ...", he displays a Jaw Jut. A jaw jut is a signal of a surge of adrenaline. Watch the video at regular speed, then at 1/2 and 1/4 speeds - and then, once again at regular speed.

6/ Donald Trump often displays this nonverbal tell just prior to delivering what he perceives to be powerful words and phrases. It's a signal of him amplifying his mental-emotional tone to one of a higher alpha state (aka, "dialing up his alpha").

7/ As he says, "six years" (1:14:26 - 1:14:27), Donald Trump displays what is known as a Lip Curl. In this example, we see it in a lateral profile.

A lip curl is a signal of:

• Braggadocio
• Bravado
• Hubris

8/ Now look back, one-to-two seconds prior to this lip curl (1:14:25 - 1:14:26). Trump pulled on his microphone.

9/ This is another common MAP (Manipulator, Adaptor, Pacifier) seen in conjunction with alpha up-regulation associated with an adrenaline surge. The President frequently exhibits this microphone false-adjustment.

10/ During, 1:14:41, just after he says, "bedlam" - as he says, "if I said that" - Donald Trump clearly is suppressing laughter.

11/ During 1:14:42, as he says, "say six", the President displays another, more pronounced lip curl. Trump is facing the camera, near-directly, in this angle.

12/ This is not the first time Donald Trump has mentioned extending his presidency beyond the two-term limit allowed under the Twenty-Second Amendment.

13/ In 2018, during a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago, Trump complimented Chinese President Xi Jinping regarding his abolishment of term limits, ...

14/ ... saying, "He’s now president for life. President for life. No, he’s great. And look, he was able to do that. I think it’s great. Maybe we’ll have to give that a shot someday."

15/ SUMMARY: During this exchange, Donald Trump was not joking regarding presidential term limits. His nonverbal behavior clearly projects braggadocio, bravado, & hubris. Moreover, he's suppressing sincere laughter (joy-happiness) at his suggestion of public bedlam.

continued

16/ Trump's behavior is also passive-aggressive. But more specifically, and of profound importance, he's quite deliberately Trial Ballooning. He's thinking past a second term. He wants a third term. Suggesting this plan in a public forum gives him an adrenaline rush.

continued

17/ He's planting seeds & pushing boundaries. This is a common manipulative technique used in many scenarios. In a political context, he is manipulating the Window of Discourse also known as Overton's Window ("the range of ideas tolerated in public discourse").

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