Donald Trump has seemingly attempted to conceal his hands as health concerns mount, despite his team’s efforts to dismiss such speculation.
A body language expert has suggested that attention surrounding his wellbeing, fuelled by political opponents, appears to be affecting the President.
While Trump typically relishes using his hands whilst speaking, gesturing enthusiastically, during his meeting with tech leaders at the White House on Thursday he appeared considerably more restrained.
Speaking to The Mirror, body language expert Judi James analysed Thursday’s tech gathering, which she characterised as a ‘stroke and purr’ session for Trump’s ego.
She observed something notable about the President’s demeanour.
She said: “Unless he was bluffing at his last press call, Trump seems to be seriously out of the social media loop when it comes to the state of his health and, in particular, the state of his hands. He did seem to be hearing speculation for the first time the other day and this coming late to the party stance might be the reason why he keeps his hands hidden here when he would normally be gesticulating to add emphasis to his words.
“Even here though there are finally moments when he behaves normally and the hands do appear. It’s the left one first and then the right and although the appearances are a little more fleeting than usual he doesn’t act in a way to suggest he has inhibitions about showing them.”
Trump was playing host to a group of influential tech executives at the White House, showcasing research on artificial intelligence and boasting about investments that companies are making across the United States.
“This is taking our country to a new level,” he declared, seated at the centre of a long table surrounded by what he referred to as “high IQ people.”
Ms James spoke to Mirror.com, stating that Trump was in his element. She said: “Trump is clearly in a good-humoured mood here as, sitting alongside Melania, he harvests flattering verbal ‘strokes’ from each of the tech giants in turn, most of whom thank him profusely for his wonderful leadership.
“The ‘Stroke and purr’ session sees nearly everyone around the table in the same pose as Trump, ie with their hands held below the tabletop, perhaps reflecting the tendency for tech people to be rather introvert unlike Trump himself. Posture-wise, Trump adopts a more hunched pose, which is his signature look.”
Even a few glimpses of the president visiting his golf course over the weekend weren’t enough to quell the social media rumour mill stoked by political opponents. Trump was asked directly about it Tuesday at his first public event in a week.
“How did you find out over the weekend that you were dead?” Fox News’ Peter Doocy enquired. “Did you see that?”.
“No,” the 79 year old Trump responded bluntly. The senators and administration officials gathered around him for the Space Command headquarters announcement shifted their weight and smiled.
The president revealed he was unaware that people were speculating about whether he had died, though he acknowledged hearing health-related concerns.
“I knew they were saying, like: ‘Is he OK? How is he feeling? What’s wrong?'” Trump said, dismissing the speculation as “fake news” and insisting he “was very active over the weekend.”
In recent appearances, Trump has displayed bruising on the back of his right hand, occasionally masked with makeup, alongside swelling around his ankles.
The White House confirmed Trump has been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a condition where leg veins struggle to pump blood back to the heart effectively, resulting in pooling in the lower extremities.
It’s a relatively routine ailment amongst elderly individuals.