National

Kelly was upset about the food at NATO breakfast, not Trump Germany remark, Sanders says

John Kelly was annoyed he couldn't get a "full breakfast" in Brussels on Wednesday.

At least that was the explanation from White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders when asked about the apparently agitated body language displayed by President Donald Trump's chief of staff during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

Sanders told The Washington Post that Kelly "was displeased because he was expecting a full breakfast and there were only pastries and cheese."

A number of news outlets, including the Post, speculated that Kelly's body language was related to the remarks Trump was making at the time about Germany being "totally controlled by Russia."

Trump made the comment while voicing frustrations about how much Germany pays into NATO and the amount of Russian natural gas the country relies on. Trump also said Germany, one of America's closest allies, was "captive to Russia."

The Post cited two body language experts, one of whom said Kelly appeared "displeased, maybe irritated” but was feeling "hardcore anger." The other said Kelly "looks like he wants to be anywhere but where he is."

MSNBC's Ari Melber said Kelly "looked 'noticeably perturbed' during Trump's remarks."

"Just look at Kelly's face throughout Trump's Germany tirade," tweeted Mother Jones magazine. "It says everything."

"Watch John Kelly search the room, his cup, his tie, for some reassuring sign this is all just a dream ... But it never comes. It never comes," tweeted Defense One tech editor Patrick Tucker.

On the other hand, The New Republic's Jeet Heer said Kelly always looks like an "old disappointed cop in a movie who is 2 days away from retirement and just got shot by a mobster."

Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol said Sanders' explanation was "demeaning" and "infantilizing" for a man who "served his country as a Marine for over 40 years."