The finger, the smile, the position – at first glance, everything seems identical about US President Donald Trump in his photographs with the leaders of the Balkan states.
Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama, former Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, and other Balkan and world leaders have recently published photographs from their meeting with US President Donald Trump in the USA.
And the photos are almost distinguishable only by the presence of different leaders. With Trump, the details remain almost identical.
Since Kurti posted the photo with Trump on Friday, inaccurate claims have been circulating on social media that the photos may not be real. There was even a joke that the leaders were photographed with a paper doll.
But everything is simple and a matter of protocol.
The photos were taken days ago, in New York, as part of the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Week.
At this event, Trump is the epicenter. He stands in this space, while the delegations approach him one by one for the official photo.
According to the White House, Trump hosted world leaders at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel. The event was closed to the media. The photos were taken in the hotel lobby.
As with the leaders of the Balkans, but also others, Trump stands between two flags - the American one and the Presidency.
The angle of the photo looks the same in all of them. Trump is in the center. And as usual, he holds his right thumb up. This is his favorite pose.
The protocol is not new. The same poses were taken in 2019, when Trump hosted world leaders at the same hotel. Or on other occasions like these:
At such summits or meetings, photographers and protocol staff routinely assign positions to leaders. Because leaders are required to stand in certain places, the photo may look similar. But the similarities increase when Trump decides to maintain the same pose over and over again. By standing straight and his chest out, he is trying to show dominance, as body language experts explain.
According to Joe Navarro, Trump maintains this style in almost every photo and this makes him look "the same" in all of them, writes Koha .
The White House uses a similar angle and lighting for official photos, so that the American leader is constantly in the center and shows dominance.
The differences can be seen in Trump's left hand. For example, in the photo with Vučić, it is seen closer to the body. There are also differences in the smile. But they are not noticeable at first glance.
That Trump is real in these photographs is also proven by other small details.
But also some photos that other world leaders published. For example, with the Slovenian leader he is seen shaking hands.
Or with that Montenegrin, Trump "forgot" the thumbs down, while that Montenegrin "imitated it."