Precisely, skilled diplomats are extremely unlikely to be swayed by physical bluffs like that. It is posturing more suited for a schoolyard than a negotiation room.
The only practical use I can think of is as part of an attempt to deliberately anger the other person into making a mistake. Which is not an insignificant ploy, but he's been doing this with people who we absolutely must maintain positive relationships with, and won't be bullied.
Edited: daishain on 18th Feb, 2017 - 5:13pm
Stacia,
You are correct and that could be used to ones advantage during a negotiation. Anything to throw the other off kilter. Also, you can be sure before our president meets a head of state he gets briefed about every habit, quirk, like, or dislike that we know about. Now, I'm not saying that President Trump uses this as part of his strategy, but he might.
Daishan,
Yes, but not all heads of state are skilled negotiators. Also, it doesn't seem to have affected him establishing relationships with the people he's already met. We'll see how this plays out.
I can understand if you want a negotiation tool but pulling someone off their center of balance isn't the way to do it. His body language suggests that he constantly wants to let the people he meets know that while he is open and friendly he is also in charge. I also do not think this is trivial. People excuse Trump as that's just his way but its not about his way its about the right way. I want to see how he shakes Putin's hand.
Edited: Stacia on 18th Feb, 2017 - 6:11pm
The typical Trump supporter is like "Who care's as long as I get my job back and we make America great again."
You know what has me the most curious. Is anyone saying, "Mr. President don't you think you shouldn't do that because… " and he listens or is everyone around him afraid of being fired?
That seems to be a part of the problem. From the looks of things, either Trump is not listening to much of the advice offered by the white house staff, or he is going out of his way to make us believe he is not.
Neither possibility is particularly comforting, and either way its most likely as part of a pathological need to be seen standing on his own.
He likes to say "Fake news" but surely if he watches as much cable as is alleged then he should be hearing what people are saying about him. That should be enough for him to say "I'll do things differently next time".