President Donald Trump’s handshake with President Vladimir Putin has been broken down by a body language expert after viewers called it a ‘power play’.

The two leaders met in Alaska to hash out the conflict in Eastern Europe, which the 79-year-old POTUS has attempted to patch up since he took office in January this year.

However, nothing appeared to work, not threats of sanctions, tariffs or a minerals deal.

Instead, the war in Ukraine continues to rage on.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One ahead of the meeting, Trump was asked what consequences Russia would face if Putin wasn’t willing to talk about ending the war in Ukraine.

“Economically severe. It will be very severe,” he replied. “I’m not doing this for my health, okay, I don’t need it. I’d like to focus on our country, but I’m doing this to save a lot of lives.

“Yeah, very severe.”

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin’s meeting started off with a ‘power play’ (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

While he didn’t comment on what punishments would be dished out to Russia, Trump added: “I don’t have to say. There will be very severe consequences.”

But as the pair met in Anchorage, viewers watched as Putin walked towards him and were shocked when the US president seemed to pull his hand during the shake.

People online were shocked, with many claiming that this was Trump’s ‘power play’ before the meeting began.

However, a body language expert has their own thoughts on just what was going on there.

Speaking to Newsweek, Patty Ann Wood shared that the interaction was a mix of ‘deference, control and familiarity’.

Before the handshake, she explained that Trump is ‘smiling – a sign he’s comfortable and looking forward to the event’.

The expert added: “It’s his natural smile, small and slightly downturned at the corners. His shoulders are back more than usual; he might be wearing a form-fitting undergarment because his posture is unusually erect. This all suggests confidence.”

But when the 72-year-old Russian leader approached, Trump began to applaud and stepped forward to meet him on the red carpet.

For Wood, this was a sign of ‘respect’.

While many thought the handshake was somewhat nefarious, Wood said he broke his usual tradition during it, telling the outlet: “Trump typically likes to have his hand on top, but here it appears he presented his palm up – a weaker, more subordinate position – indicating he sees Putin as more powerful.”

She went on to say that he did, however, go on to do his classic move, which was to keep ‘the handshake tight to his mid-body to pull the other person in, a display of power’.

So, while Trump may find Putin the more powerful force, he was apparently still trying to maintain his own show of power.

The handshake has been analyzed (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

During the shaking, both met made eye contact and smiled, moving their heads close to one another which Wood says suggests ‘warmth’ towards one another.

Then Trump brought his hand across to pat Putin’s arm, forming a ‘double handshake’, which is a ‘subtle’ sign of dominance, she claimed.

Wood noted: “I could strike you if I wanted to. Putin responds in kind.”

As the pair began to walk, that’s when Trump reverted back to his favorite handshake position, putting his hand on top which was a ‘handshake chess game’.

All in all, the expert noted that Putin looked confident and Trump made a ‘gesture of intimacy’ by leaning in to whisper in his ear.

Wood said the meeting ‘looked like two old friends seeing each other after a long time’.

Russia has spoken out after Donald Trump ordered for American nuclear vessels to be moved closer to the nation.

While Trump and Vladimir Putin have previously had an amicable working relationship, things between the pair have turned progressively more sour over the last few months.

From the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine to Trump’s unfavorable tariffs on Russia, the two world leaders have disagreed on a lot of topics — and seemingly continue to do so.

Trump has long been trying to facilitate a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine and recently moved a deadline he’d set for Putin to end the war forward to August 9, rather than September 2.

Should the Russian leader not meet the deadline, Trump has threatened heavy sanctions on the country.

Donald Trump isn’t on the best of terms with Russia at the moment (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Following this, Trump was accused of playing ‘the ultimatum game’ with the country by Russian Security Council official Dmitry Medvedev.

“Trump’s playing the ultimatum game with Russia: 50 days or 10,” he said on Twitter.

“He should remember 2 things: 1. Russia isn’t Israel or even Iran. 2. Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country. Don’t go down the Sleepy Joe road!”

Trump retaliated by telling Medvedev to ‘watch his words’ and proceeded to order that two American nuclear vessels be ‘positioned in the appropriate regions’, i.e closer to Russia.

He penned on Truth Social on August 1: “Based on the highly provocative statements of the Former President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, who is now the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that.

“Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Dmitry Peskov has responded to Trump’s recent move (Contributor/Getty Images)

Spokesperson for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, has since responded to Trump’s apparent threat and warned that America should be ‘very careful’.

Peskov added, as per The Mirror: “Russia is very cautious about nuclear nonproliferation matters, and we believe everyone should be very careful about nuclear rhetoric.”

“Very complex, very sensitive issues are being discussed, which, of course, many perceive very emotionally,” he also said, BBC News reports.

Peskov’s comments come shortly before US envoy Steve Witkoff is due to visit Russia tomorrow (August 6).

US President Donald Trump has ordered nuclear submarines to move to ‘appropriate regions’ after a former Russian leader delivered what he described as a ‘highly provocative statement’.

On Thursday (July 31), 79-year-old Trump alleged that former Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev should ‘watch his words’ after he said the Republican’s threat of hitting Russia and buyers of its oil with punitive tariffs was ’a game of ultimatums’.

Medvedev’s warning came after Trump said Russia had ‘ten or twelve days’ from July 29 to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine, as per Reuters.

Donald Trump didn’t clarify if the vessels were nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

“If some words from the former president of Russia trigger such a nervous reaction from the high-and-mighty president of the United States, then Russia is doing everything right and will continue to proceed along its own path,” the deputy chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation said in a post on Telegram.

He added that Trump should remember ‘how dangerous the fabled ‘Dead Hand’ can be’, referring to Russia’s secretive, semi-automated nuclear command system designed to automatically launch if Russian leadership is eliminated in an enemy attack.

Following Medvedev’s comments, Trump took to Truth Social on Friday (August 1) to confirm his administration had moved two nuclear vessels.

“Based on the highly provocative statements of the former president of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, who is now the deputy chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, I have ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions,” he wrote on his social media network.

He explained that moving the submarines was a decision made ‘just in case’ Medvedev’s words were actually threats.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s statement was described as ‘highly provocative’ by Trump (Contributor/Getty Images)

“Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

It is not clear whether the father-of-five was referring to nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed submarines in his post.

In a follow-up interview, Trump told reporters that he deemed Medvedev’s comments as threatening.

“We didn’t think it was appropriate. So I have to be very careful.

“I do that on the basis of safety for our people. A threat was made by a former president of Russia. And we’re going to protect our people.”

Reuters reported that security analysts have called Trump’s move a rhetorical escalation with Moscow, but not necessarily a military one.

Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association advocacy group, has called the 47th US President’s potential war move both ‘irresponsible and inadvisable’.

“No leader or deputy leader should be threatening nuclear war, let alone in a juvenile manner on social media.”

The Kremlin has yet to make a public comment on the issue.

Donald Trump’s blunder when talking about the Cold War has left everyone scratching their heads.

President Trump has been talking a lot about Russia recently as he prepares to meet with Vladimir Putin on Friday (August 15) at a US military base in Alaska.

Russia’s war with Ukraine is expected to be at the forefront of the conversation, and seen as the president told Moscow it would face unprecedented sanctions if things didn’t come to a peaceful resolution, the talk is a pretty big deal.

Earlier this week, Trump shocked citizens when he asked whether people were surprised that Russia could hit back at the US in the form of a mega cyber-attack.

And he’s gone and done it again, as this time he went on to mention the Cold War in another comment, leaving people baffled by his statement, given the fact it hasn’t been true for over three decades.

Donald Trump’s blunder left people confused (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The 79-year-old took to his Truth Social account on Tuesday morning (August 12) to speak about the media’s coverage of his soon-to-be conversation with Putin.

He said: “If I got Moscow and Leningrad free, as part of the deal with Russia, the Fake News would say that I made a bad deal!”

However, he seemed to have made a blunder during his post.

This is because people in the comments pointed out that Leningrad hasn’t been the name of a city in Russia since 1991, when it was changed to St. Petersburg via referendum.

Others mentioned that in 1987, Trump and his ex-wife, Ivana, traveled to Moscow to look at a potential area to build a Trump Hotel and also spent time in the city.

“Trump mentioning Leningrad is wild, considering the city hasn’t existed since 1991,” wrote one user.

Saint Petersburg, which was formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on 27 May 1703 and named after the apostle Saint Peter.

Saint Petersburg is mainly associated with the birth of the Russian Empire and was the capital of the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire from 1712 to 1918.

Trump’s full rant read: “Very unfair media is at work on my meeting with Putin.

Leningrad changed its name 34 years ago (Getty Stock Image/Sergey Alimov)

“Constantly quoting fired losers and really dumb people like John Bolton, who just said that, even though the meeting is on American soil, ‘Putin has already won.’ What’s that all about? We are winning on EVERYTHING.

“The Fake News is working overtime (No tax on overtime!). If I got Moscow and Leningrad free, as part of the deal with Russia, the Fake News would say that I made a bad deal! But now they’ve been caught. Look at all of the real news that’s coming out about their CORRUPTION. They are sick and dishonest people, who probably hate our Country. But it doesn’t matter because we are winning on everything!!! MAGA”.

His rant comes just days before his talk with Putin, with the White House having to step in to clear up some confusion when Trump claimed he was flying to Russia instead of Alaska to hold the meeting.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “Perhaps there are plans in the future to travel to Russia.”