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In a moment that feels made for TV, President-elect Donald Trump sat down with current President Joe Biden for a customary meeting to ease the transition of power in the coming months. The meeting lasted quite a while — about two hours — and was full of cold shoulders and hollow words. Trump and Biden shook hands at the start, but their body language went downhill fast afterward, leading many experts to believe that Biden perceives Trump to be a menace.
Body language expert and behavior analyst, Traci Brown, gave Nicki Swift an exclusive insider scoop on what Biden's behavior has to say about his true feelings toward Trump. Considering the last time Trump and Biden were face to face was during the debate that raised questions about Biden's health and led to him ultimately dropping out of the presidential race, it would make sense for Biden to want to avoid connecting with Trump. And, according to Brown, it seems Biden might still find Trump to be a bit of a terrifying bully, even if Biden tries to cover this up with stoic bravado. Here's a breakdown of a few key moments of body language between the two men that reveal how Biden really feels about Trump.
Biden's body language says he thinks Trump is a threat
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According to expert Traci Brown, Joe Biden's behavior was stand-offish and cold — he often avoided eye contact and closed his eyes entirely when speaking to Donald Trump. Of what this indicates, Brown says, "[Biden] doesn't want to see either his own departure from office or the things he and his team are going to do for Trump to make things smooth." Although, for his part, Joe has done his best to communicate that there will be a smooth transition. He told staffers and cabinet members, "I assured [Donald] that I would direct my entire administration to work with his team to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition," per NPR. But it seems Joe's body is keeping the score on this one.
Also of note was the fact that during Donald's rambling statement to the press, Joe did not blink. Brown says, "This happens when we're perceiving someone or something as a threat." Perhaps Joe was uneasy and unsure of what to expect from Donald, considering the president-elect skipped this sit-down formality in 2020. Donald's team was too busy refusing to accept the election results and did not invite Joe's team to the Oval Office to sort out a transition plan.
All in all, the meeting went smoothly. First Lady Jill Biden wrote a letter for Melania Trump, who was not present — so she gave it to Donald, assuming he will see his wife at some point, despite Melania's campaign absence. For his part, Donald did have some nice things to say about the meeting: "Politics is tough and in many cases it's not a nice world, but it is a nice world today." Maybe he was missing Joe's body language, which would suggest otherwise.
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