Body Language Expert Says Trump Is Acting "Submissive" Around Musk

"The only other figure with whom the president-elect is so submissive is Vladimir Putin."

Bondage, Discipline, Sadism, Musk 

A body language expert assessed Elon Musk and Donald Trump's behavior around each other and concluded that the future president is acting uncharacteristically deferential around his star-crossed friend. 

Former police officer Darren Stanton analyzed a video of the pair at Musk's latest flatlined SpaceX rocket launch for The Telegraph, establishing that "only other figure with whom the president-elect is so submissive is Vladimir Putin."

"Trump was very uneasy," Stanton said. "Usually, he comes over as this alpha male, the most empowered, most powerful person in the room." But on that blustery November day in Texas, Trump was "out of his depth — his hands were just by his side like a mannequin." 

Big Dog on Capitol Hill 

To be clear, body language isn't exactly a reliable science. In fact, it hardly even exists; in 2023, a group of nonverbal communication researchers explained in The Society for Personality and Social Psychology that "outside of gestures like OK signs and extended third fingers, there aren't the kinds of precise meanings [in nonverbal communication that] we see in language." 

That said, the vibes are unmistakable: Trump does appear uncharacteristically timid around Musk, a dynamic that might fuel his team's growing exasperation with Musk's overbearing presence.  

A member of Trump's inner circle reportedly complained recently that Musk has been "behaving as if he's a co-president," trying to "make President Trump feel indebted to him." 

And of course, Musk did unload around $200 million to get Trump into office — so maybe it's no wonder that Trump would pause his usual hand flapping to act unusually docile in his presence.

"He was playing with his pockets, but he didn't put his hands in his pockets," Stanton told The Telegraph about the video of Musk and Trump. "It’s the anxiety of not knowing what to do with [his] hands."

Or, possibly, his presidency. 

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