Who really won the meeting between Trump and Putin?
Jul 10, 2017, 5:42 AM | Updated: 8:18 am
President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands during the G20 summit in Hamburg Germany, Friday July 7, 2017. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
(Mikhail Klimentyev, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
The big question on the U.S. side of things after the Trump-Putin meeting seems to be: did President Trump really try to hold Putin to account for interfering in the election?
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Republicans seemed particularly concerned after Trump tweeted that he and Putin had discussed partnering on a cyber security unit to protect both countries from cyber attacks.
Senator Marco Rubio said that’s like partnering with Syrian President Assad on a “chemical weapons unit.”
And sure enough, a few hours later, Trump clarified what he meant, which it turns out was exactly the opposite of what his previous tweet seemed to say. In fact, there will be no partnership.
We should all know by now there’s no point in deeply analyzing presidential tweets.
It’s like trying to read body language, which, by the way, is how Russia’s online news service, RT, approached the question of who won the meeting. They brought in body language “expert” Darren Stanton, known as TV’s Human Lie Detector, who thought Trump definitely won the handshake.
“This time we noticed that President Trump sort of pat President Putin under the arm, which is sort of a large gesture. That again is a power gesture — to almost say we’re here, but I’m the powerful one. I’m still the head honcho, so to speak.”
But then Putin battled decisively in the way he took his seat.
“President Putin’s legs were quite spread apart. Again, that is a very classic, dominant gesture.”
Yes, I think his body language was saying I’m ready to partner on cyber security. I’ll just need your PIN code and the name of your first grade teacher.
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