‘Lion’-like Trump deploys ‘power move’ as he, Xi show ‘genuine affection’ during historic China summit: body language expert

He’s king of the jungle. 

President Trump wasn’t intimidated by his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during their historic summit in Beijing Wednesday, according to a body language expert, who compared the commander-in-chief’s power moves to that of a lion. 

“I think that Trump feels the power, feels like this is a formidable meeting. He is not intimidated by Xi at all. He’s showing, kind of like a peacock or a lion, he’s showing his power,” Lillian Glass, a Florida-based body language expert who has served as an expert witness in federal and state courts on behavioral analysis, told The Post. 

“He was showing his gravitas, nothing contrived. He really felt it,” Glass explained, describing Trump’s posture as “very straight” and “like a military person.”

“He was focused,” the expert said. 

Glass noted that during the grand ceremonial at the Great Hall of the People, which marked the president’s first visit to China since 2017, Trump mixed power moves with genuine displays of affection toward Xi. 

“Trump was very friendly with patting him,” she said. “They were in close proximity with each other. There were a lot of smiles.”

The back pats were a “power move” but also served as “an affection move.”

“I think there’s some genuine affection between the two,” Glass said. “I think they really do like each other, you could tell.”

The body language expert observed that Xi patted Trump on the back as well, an indication that there was “a mutual connection there.” 

“It wasn’t all Trump taking over; it was mutual.”

While Trump looked “very formidable,” his back-and-forth with Xi suggested “a warmth between them.” 

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“The fact that they were walking in sync, the fact that [Trump] patted [Xi] a lot on his back, and he had his hand on Trump’s back – that was a very good thing,” Glass said, explaining that Trump and Xi matching each other stride-for-stride means “they’re like-minded” and “pretty much on the same page.”

The expert also took note of Trump’s physical stamina – walking at a good clip, going up the Great Hall’s massive steps – arguing it should put to rest any concerns about the president’s health. 

“He walked pretty well up those stairs,” Glass said. “I think that destroys any myths [about his health]. He certainly was formidable and walked quite a long distance.”

“He had a good pace. He walked straight. So anybody that’s accusing him of a neurological problem needs to look at themselves, because let me tell you, there’s nothing neurologically impaired about him.” 

Finally, Glass observed that during the handshake line with the US delegation, Xi took a particular interest in one Trump administration official – White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.  

“Don’t know if they knew each other, but there was a connection there,” Glass said, noting that Xi spent more time with him than any other US official in the ropeline.