JUDI JAMES analyses ‘frosty’ body language between Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak

Joe Biden seemed “dismissive” to Rishi Sunak when they met at a Belfast airport last night, before being “icily awkward” in a staged photo shoot today, a body language expert said.

Judi James said the president put a “hard, guiding hand” on Sunak to push him aside after the prime minister greeted him on the tarmac at Belfast International Airport before the start of his visit to mark the 25th anniversary of Good Friday. agree.

She told MailOnline: “Sunak performed what has been called an endearing ‘act of discomfort’ by waiting on the windswept tarmac to sharply greet Biden as soon as his feet touched the ground.

This ritual is a show of respect that Biden would perfectly understand: the higher the rank of his own guests, the farther he gets outside the White House waiting to greet them.

In Sunak’s case, however, the compliment seemed to be brushed aside along with the prime minister. Did Biden recognize Sunak?

Was it because he looked different with his glasses on? Because the hard, guiding hand that Biden seemed to place on Rishi’s arm seemed to push him firmly out of the way so that Biden could greet a man in uniform and offer a smiling hello.”

Ms James said Mr Sunak was ‘gently sidelined’ after the initial greeting.

She said, “He was like the guy at a party who can’t quite break into the main group. Biden’s body language was warm, exuberant and chatty with the likes of the US ambassador to the UK, but when Sunak appears to touch his arm to speak, Biden’s expression changes and his smile dips as he turns his head to listen.

“Biden’s touch rituals with Sunak are more like power pats and at the end he even puts a hand on his shoulder as if to end his conversation.”

This morning the pair sat down for a brief meeting over tea at a Belfast hotel, with both men sitting awkwardly as photographers snapped photos of the occasion.

Analyzing the meeting, Ms James said: “All leadership photo shoots are fabricated, but the main purpose is to create a body language announcement signal that the rest of the world will know the state of the relationship between the two countries and even the two leaders shows itself. .

This ”announcement” by Biden then seemed like a statement of icy awkwardness. He looked aloof, with no smile, eye contact, touch or chatter for Rishi, despite the rather strange and presumably friendly tea room setting.

His mind looked as empty as the plates and cups on the table, though he happily indulged in some good-natured banter with the photographers, while Rishi sat nervously pretending to drink invisible tea from an empty cup.

The real test of a world leadership relationship usually comes during the final, unnarrative moments of these staged photo calls, when the photographers are told to leave.

“When they were led here, there wasn’t a single look, word or connection between Biden and Sunak, despite the fact that at that point they were able to drop the fake smiles and relax a bit.”

Ms James said the exchange was the “most telling moment” when it came to understanding the relationship between Mr Biden and Mr Sunak.

“Even world leaders who are at odds will often speak more kindly once the official poses are over, but Biden seemed almost oblivious to Sunak’s existence here until the end of the clip,” she said.

“He sat cross-legged away from Sunak the whole time in a gesture of subliminal rejection, leaning back with his elbows on the armrests of the chair and a blank expression on his face.”

It comes as Mr Biden took to his English roots today when he tried to refute that he is ‘anti-British’ during a speech at the University of Ulster.

In an extended anecdote, he described how a former US ambassador to the UK had discovered that one of his ancestors had written the rules of mutiny for the British Navy in the 19th century.

Mr Biden – who has often proclaimed his Irish heritage’ – said other parts of his family were from Nottingham, joking that he ‘don’t know what the hell is going on here’.

The comments came after Mr Biden and Rishi Sunak spoke over tea at a hotel this morning. He praised the “leadership” of the EU’s Mr Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen in scrapping the Windsor Framework for post-Brexit rules in the province, suggesting it could unlock more US investment.

However, hopes that the visit could help break the impasse at Stormont have dwindled – with the DUP criticizing the “extremely partisan” president for “hating Britain” after trumpeting his Irish roots.

Biden only “greeted” the leaders of Northern Ireland’s main political parties, then gave a speech and immediately crossed the border into the Republic, where he will spend the next three days.

And despite early signs of a thaw in relations after the Windsor Framework eased rows with the EU over post-Brexit rules in the province, US officials made it clear leaders wouldn’t even talk about reviving a trade package .

Mr Sunak said the countries were ‘very close partners and allies’ and had a ‘very good discussion’ about economic opportunities in Northern Ireland.

“That comes from a meeting I had with him in the US last month, I’ll see him again next month at the G7 and then I’m going to Washington in June; we are very close partners and allies, we work together on a range of things, whether that’s supporting Ukraine or economic security,” he said.

“I think the relationship is actually in great shape, and the president and I have a lot that we’re working on together.”