Former police officer Darren Stanton described Donald Trump as “submissive” and uneasy around Elon Musk after watching footage from SpaceX’s November 19, 2024 Starship test flight in Brownsville, Texas. That was Stanton’s interpretation of a brief public interaction—not a diagnosis, a verified measure of Trump’s feelings, or proof of who held more power.
What happened at the Starship test flight?
Trump and Musk attended the sixth Starship test flight in Brownsville, Texas, on November 19, 2024. In a November 20 report, Futurism’s Ashley Bardhan relayed Stanton’s analysis of video from the event. The description of the flight and attendees comes from Futurism’s account.
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Stanton’s comments were reported by Futurism as coming from an interview with The Telegraph. The Telegraph interview itself could not be independently reviewed for this account, so the quotations and their context are attributed to Futurism’s relay.
Why did Stanton call Trump “submissive”?
Stanton said Trump looked “very uneasy” and contrasted the scene with Trump’s usual public presentation, which he described as that of “the most empowered, most powerful person in the room.” He also said Trump appeared “out of his depth,” pointing to Trump’s hands being at his sides and describing him as looking “like a mannequin.”
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Stanton further said Trump was “playing with his pockets” without putting his hands in them, interpreting the movement as anxiety about what to do with his hands. These are Stanton’s readings of visible gestures. The reported observations—hands at his sides and movement near his pockets—do not establish that Trump felt anxious, submissive, or unsure.
What the footage can—and cannot—show
A short clip can document posture and movement, but an observer cannot reliably infer a private emotion or relationship dynamic from those details alone. Futurism itself cautioned readers against treating body language as a precise science, summarizing a 2023 discussion by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. The linked discussion is not independently available here; the caution is therefore presented as Futurism’s summary, not as a directly checked quotation from the society.
The word “submissive” is especially interpretive: it turns a visual impression into a claim about a social dynamic. The footage, as described, does not show what either man was thinking, whether Trump felt nervous, or whether Musk had greater authority in that moment. Other circumstances or individual habits could also affect posture and hand movements.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the interaction drew attention
The scene came amid the public closeness between Musk and Trump during the 2024 political transition, which made Stanton’s contrast between Trump’s usual self-presentation and his appearance in the clip newsworthy. But that broader context does not validate the body-language reading or establish the private nature of their relationship. The report’s mention of Musk spending “around $200 million” to help elect Trump is an approximate figure stated by Futurism; it is not necessary to explain Stanton’s interpretation and is not an independently established total.
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