One word ‘trigger’ penetrates Donald Trump’s ‘alpha shell’ as he flips on Washington Post reporter

Body language expert Judi James provides some insight into Trump’s potential trigger words that cause him to grow frustrated and angry

While speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday President Donald Trump appeared to be viably frustrated with Washington Post reporter Michael Birnbaum when he asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump, essentially since beginning his political career has repeatedly received criticism over his relationship with Putin, with media members and political opponents taking exception with Trump singing his praises for the Russian dictator.

That criticism has been magnified in the wake of the disastrous Oval Office meeting last month with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, where Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated the embattled European leader after he suggested that Putin could not be trusted to abide by any potential ceasefire agreement between the two countries.

Sunday’s clash with Birnbaum aboard Air Force One began after Trump was asked if he felt Putin was disrespecting him by ramping up attacks on Ukraine in recent weeks as talks of ceasefire are ongoing.

“Is President Putin disrespecting you by attacking Ukraine when you’re trying to make peace there, Mr. President?” Birnbaum asked.

Trump then asked the reporter to repeat the question before asking him what Putin was doing to disrespect him.

“Well, he’s attacking Ukraine,” Birnbaum responded. Trump then asked what outlet Birnbaum was with and when he said The Washington Post Trump shook his head and said “You’ve lost a lot of credibility”

During the entire exchange, Trump appeared to be taken aback and confused by Birbaum’s line of questioning, particularly when Trump asked ‘[Putin} is disrespecting me?” and Birnbaum responded “Yep.”

Body language expert Judi James said that while this exchange may not have risen to the level of anger and frustration that the Zenensky meeting did, there does appear to be a pattern with Trump with regards to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“On the Zelenski scale of angry exchanges the body language here is reasonably mild although there does appear to be a trigger link,” James said.

James suggests that even someone suggesting to Trump that he has been disrespected could be a trigger for the president, as in the Zelensky meeting things went off the rails when Vance suggested that the Ukrainian leader had been disrespecting the U.S. by not showing enough gratitude for the military assistance his country has been given.

“Asked whether Putin is disrespecting him by continuing to attach Ukraine, the bonhomie expression of vertical face puckering that registers relaxed power and the head-cocking from side to side to show control of the situation vanish,” James said. “The word ‘disrespect’ seems to halt Trump in his tracks here and with no JD Vance to throw similar accusations at the reporter for asking the question, Trump has to pull out ‘Disrespecting ME? ‘question himself.”

James said that Trump seemingly ignoring Birnbaum’s question and asking about his affiliation suggests that Trump immediately took the question as a personal attack and responded accordingly.

“Instead of answering the question he takes the journalist on in a personal-sounding attempt to bring him down to size. His ‘Who are you with?’ leads to a complete dismissal at the answer. His ‘You just lost a lot of credibility’ sounds and looks snippy as he turns to ignore the guy that asked the question,” James said.

Trump during both of his stints in the White House and on the campaign trail has repeatedly praised Putin, insulted Zelensky, suggesting that he is an unelected “dictator,” and claiming Ukraine was at fault for Russia’s unprovoked invasion.

“The smartest one gets to the top,” Trump told a crowd of supporters in Georgia in 2022. “That didn’t work so well recently in our country. But they ask me, ‘Is Putin smart?’ Yes, Putin was smart. And I actually thought he was going to be negotiating. I said, ‘That’s a hell of a way to negotiate, put 200,000 soldiers on the border.’”

Zelensky arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday ahead of a summit with U.S. officials, but reportedly will not meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The Ukrainian diplomatic team will try to convince the U.S. delegation to restore military aid and intelligence, which Trump paused shortly after the meeting with Zelensky.