There were hugs, back slaps and touching knees as Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron revived their tactile displays of diplomacy in the Oval Office.

Yet the French president made an unusually daring move on Monday as the leaders jostled to use body language as a power play.

Mr Trump, who tries to exude an alpha male supremacy, likes to “get the upper hand in close combat sports”, explained Prof Geoffrey Beattie, a body language expert from Edge Hill University, who noted the US president’s love of handshake diplomacy.

However, during Mr Macron’s visit to the White House to present a European plan for peace in Ukraine, “he contested Trump’s right to dominate the interaction”, the psychologist said, adding: “It was no longer the boss and the apprentice.”

In a particularly tense moment, Mr Macron, 47, interrupted his 78-year-old counterpart as Mr Trump falsely claimed that Europe was “loaning” money to Ukraine and would get “their money back”.

Mr Macron put his hand on Mr Trump’s arm and carefully corrected him: “No, in fact, to be frank, we paid 60 per cent of the total default.”

Like the US, he said, it was through a mix of grants, loans and guarantees, adding: “We provided real money, to be clear.”