Body language expert Patti Wood analyzed Trump's court appearance and speech afterward and shared her findings with The U.S. Sun.
Right away, Wood noticed similarities between the court appearance and another of Trump's recent outings.
“The scowl on his face is very similar to the mugshot," Wood revealed, drawing a comparison to the photo from Trump's August arrest.
"If you break it down, you have the glare of anger, the lowered brow, and the glaze in his eyes.
“That scowl and the downward jowls are similar to the mugshot.”
Wood noted that while the expression is normal for Trump, it's abnormal for someone to express that level of anger in a courtroom.
“He’s playing this part of an angry man," she said.
“He wants to look angry and strong and defiant. But it’s normal in these circumstances.”
However, Wood said it's "unusual to show anger of that magnitude in mugshots and in court.
"So that choice is an interesting choice."
Wood continued, noting Trump's posture sitting at the table between his two lawyers.
“His body is strangely kind of hunched forward," she said.
"That hunching of his shoulders downward, the protecting of his body, actually is a more honest reveal.
"That reveals that he’s scared and he doesn’t feel powerful, he’s hunching forward almost like a child would do if they’re being scolded.”
'LACKED HIS USUAL VIGOR'
Trump addressed the media before the first day of the trial began, on a lunch break, and then at the end of the day.
Wood said that while Trump had his normal talking points, his body language told a different story.
“He had to power himself up and I got that from his breathing, the way he’d lift up and go into a talking point and just deliver it," Wood said.
"But it didn’t work because he’d start a sentence and then he’d have to start it over again."
Wood noted that Trump has trouble getting to the end of a sentence and that while he didn't speak for a long time, he did stop and restart several times.
“He acted as if he was strong and powerful and angry and attacking but his nonverbal was to stop midsentence and there to be this pause, and then he would finish, sometimes repeating words or changing to finish the sentence," Wood said.
“That’s a tell for the fact that he doesn’t really feel full confidence.
"His mental energy [is] not there to fight fully.”
As far as his gestures were concerned, Wood was quick to note that Trump's usual gestures were tighter to his body than normal.
“It’s the same accordion gesture he always does," she said, adding that "his arms from the shoulder up to the elbow were held tighter and closer to his body.”
“The way it showed up to the viewer is, again, a lack of power, a lack of energy.
“It lacked his usual vigor.”
