Body language expert predicts whether Trump and Musk’s ‘bromance’ during Fox News interview will end in ‘divorce’

He’s been called the shadow president and commanded attention during a joint Oval Office interview where he stood next to President Trump.

Now, after Sean Hannity compared Elon Musk and Trump to ‘brothers’ during a softball joint interview on Fox News, a body language expert tells DailyMail.com it is Trump who came off as the alpha male in the side-by-side chat.

‘Trump sat hunched and with his knees splayed in an alpha position. His hands were clasped between his legs but not in his usual high-status steeple. Instead, his fingers and his thumbs drooped, suggesting he was not quite on top of his game with Musk,’ expert Judi James told DailyMail.com.

She spoke after the two men sat close together inside the White House during the interview. Trump often looked in Musk’s direction while he spoke, at one point asking him about his next space launch, and occasionally indicating to the DOGE chief when it was his turn to respond.

‘This is going to be hard. I feel like I’m interviewing two brothers here,’ Hannity said at one point.

That was an observation that didn’t go over well with James.

‘It was clumsy and lazy to define them as being ‘Like brothers’ here, despite the need to create the idea of a more familiar form of bonding than ‘US President’ and ‘Tech tycoon’. The suggestion didn’t suit the two men either, judging from their subtler non-verbal responses or ‘tells’,’ she concluded.

‘Both looked down in an eye cut-off that suggested a desire to hide their inner feelings. Musk’s mouth pulled down in a micro-expression that looked stricken, while Trump’s smile of good-humour disappeared and he took control by moving Hannity away from the topic with a “You go ahead.”‘

James said Trump and Musk ‘are such an unorthodox couple that this interview took on the body language narrative of a royal engagement interview by allowing the public to scrutinise the dynamics of their relationship in close-up technicolor.’

But James, like Americans watching the relationship unfold, still has questions about how it will unfold – with massive stakes for the government and the public. ‘Does it work? Does it seem authentic, does it look like a partnership of convenience and, most importantly, will it end in an acrimonious ‘divorce’?” she asked.

‘If comparisons were to be drawn, the heavyweight, silverback body language from Trump and the fizzing, excitable body language from Musk would more closely resemble a father-son dynamic, although Trump has never displayed any of these traits in public with his own children.’

The two men took turns answering questions with Sean Hannity, with Trump sometimes playing traffic cop

Trump joked about the dress code of Musk’s young aides who are implanting themselves in government agencies. Musk shared his ‘Tech Support’ t-shirt, which Trump dismissed by saying Musk is ‘much more than that’

Though he may have come off as the big gorilla in the room, during a key moment Trump complained about signing feckless executive orders – and relying on Musk and his team of youthful enforcers to carry them out. 

‘You try and get them out as fast as you can. But I could — as soon as he said that, I said, “You know, that’s interesting.” You write a beautiful executive — and you sign it and you assume it’s going to be done, but it’s not,’ Trump vented.

‘What he does is he takes it, and with his hundred geniuses — he’s got some very brilliant young people working for him that dress much worse than him, actually,’ Trump said, before veering off to describe their dress.

‘They dress in just t-shirts,’ Trump said, to laughs. You wouldn’t know they have 180 IQ.’

That prompted Musk to flash his T-shirt emblazoned with ‘tech support’ – a phrase that minimizes the world’s richest man’s influence as agencies pressed by DOGE lay off thousands of federal employees.

‘So, what — he’s — he’s your tech support?’ asked Hannity. 

‘I actually virtually am tech support,’ replied Musk. 

‘He’s much more than that,’ interjected Trump. 

According to James, ‘Trump chuckled a lot when Musk spoke and he even performed a grin and partial tongue poke that signalled the two men had been sharing jokes and humour together in private.’ 

The comments came in an interview where Musk called the attempt on Trump’s life the ‘precipitating event’ that got him to endorse. Musk would eventually spend $288 million to elect Trump. 

Trump rewarded him with a critical, if unpaid post, whose authority is now being diminished in legal filings while the government faces lawsuits for DOGE actions. Musk has defied speculation that Trump would quickly throw him over the side.

‘There was some uncomfortable-looking mirroring, with the two men adopting similar poses but with some telling differences. This would suggest vast amounts of like-minded thinking but also some intrinsic, telling differences,’ according to James.

It was Trump ‘acting assured’ when the conversation turned to alleged conflicts of interest. (Trump had denied a conflict earlier Tuesday when he denied knowing that DOGE and SpaceX aides were installed at the Pentagon and the FAA.

‘Musk provided the strokes of flattery here, while Trump purred. But it was still Trump using the kind of gestures that proved he is still very much in charge,’ said James.

Even if Musk is assuming vast powers, it was Trump running the interview, or at least directing traffic when Hannity, who has advised him in the past, posed the questions.

‘As questions were asked Trump performed baton-passing tie-signs, inclining his head towards Musk in a nod to let him know he had permission to answer some,’ said James.

‘Trump’s reward-chuckling let Musk know he was to proceed but there was also a time when Trump closed Musk down. Asked about the one per cent waste fraud issue, Musk faltered and Trump shut him down by placing a hand on his arm, This happened twice and Musk conceded by nodding rather than entering into a non-verbal power battle.’

As in a troop of apes, it is worthwhile to watch both the alpha, and any rising aggressive younger males who may try to supplant him.

‘Musk provides a fascinating counterpoint to Trump’s very animal alpha body language traits. Trump’s traditional Silverback behavior involves a more static, brooding presence when he sits hunched in his chair, limiting himself to minimal movement and keeping a somber solemn facial expression,’ said James, responding to the dynamic.

It was a turnaround from the earlier Oval Office interview – musk’s first joint appearance facing the press with Trump.

‘The interview in the Oval office with Musk’s son in attendance seemed to break all Trump’s body language “rules”. Musk and son “stole” the cameras and Musk held court without showing any signs of eye-checking Trump for tie-signs of permission or approval, while his small son stared at Trump as he sat at the Oval office desk.

‘Trump was left sitting in silence to the side of shot which, for a man who never shares the spotlight let alone allows it to be taken from him, was a unique scene.

‘We didn’t even get to see any signs that Trump was cool about having a small child gatecrash an important press call. There were no signals of acknowledgement or cheery indulgence from Trump to suggest his office was an official free-for-all.

In the new interview, to ascertain who is on top, it may be wise to look to the hands.

‘The key gesture that suggested power from Musk that was not met or surpassed by Trump was the hand gesture of steepling. This finger-steepling ritual is normally a status posture. Trump tends to use the downward steeple, but Musk’s involved raised hands and a forward steeple with cocked thumbs and fingertip to fingertip touch. This would all suggest status, leadership, intellect and power,’ said James.