It may not be the most obvious forum for laughs, but Donald Trump managed to raise a chuckle from delegates as he took to the stage for his UN General Assembly speech on Tuesday.

Though this time it was a joke that "whoever is operating this (broken) teleprompter is in big trouble" that caused mirth, it stirred memories of his 2018 speech at the same event, when delegates laughed loudly at his claims of progress in the United States during his first term. After the early aside, the rest of Trump's 58-minute 2025 monologue was met with silence and stony faces from the assembled dignitaries and world leaders.

"People, it would seem, are taking it much more seriously. Whereas formerly it was a source of amusement when he puffed himself up, now almost everything he has to say has to be taken seriously. It's no longer a joke," psychologist and body language expert Peter Collett told DW.

"That's got a lot to do with the fact that Trump has become a global entity, whereas in his first term, he was more of a domestic personage. I suspect those delegates are responding to him, in part, because they are concerned about what the future may hold for them, given his erratic actions."

Body language designed to make Trump 'top dog'

Even Trump's more incendiary moments, such as when he accused the UN of leading a "globalist migration agenda" or told European leaders, "your countries are going to hell" due to immigration, failed to raise a response. But little deters Trump in such moments.

"He's been at the limits right from the start, hasn't he? That's part of his attraction to his followers, the fact that he doesn't seem to have a lot of doubt, if any at all, about his pronouncements,” added Collett. "His body language, including his facial expressions, is essentially designed to show that he's the top dog. He's very good at it, and other people seem to fall in line."

The psychologist, who has written a series of books on body language, mannerisms and gestures, pointed to Trump's history of handshakes with other world leaders. These have included one that almost turned into a wrestle with French President Emmanuel Macron, and an awkward 19-second encounter with Japan's former prime minister, Shinzo Abe. Collett said Trump uses his frame, even when speaking at a lectern, as he did on Monday.

"Generally, he uses his body language to try and lord it over other people and play the role of the alpha. He'll move slowly to convey an impression of weight, both physical and political. It's about bulk and about immovability, standing his ground, being dominant in a rather primitive, almost primate fashion, to be seen as  a leader in his encounters with others."

Eyes not only on the room

Trump though, like most political leaders, is not only addressing the room during a speech but his base and the worldwide audience on TV, social media and online.

"Trump is speaking to his political base, hitting each of his campaign trail hits, while addressing a room of leaders who'd rather be just about anywhere else," Ned Price, a deputy to the US representative to the United Nations under the Joe Biden administration, wrote on X.

But, Collett said, it's difficult to tell from the available footage just how much the audience is controlling its reactions to the speech.

"As a rule, psychologists would be of the opinion that there are certain things that you can control when it comes to your body language, and certain things that you cannot. There may have been very silent sniggering. What we don't see is the cameras focusing on the faces of all the delegates, so that we're in a position to say, 'They may not be laughing, but there's definitely a little smirk here.'"

Trump's speeches more familiar despite changing times

Given that world leaders have had close to a decade to try to understand Trump on the political stage and find the right way to react, there is no doubt that many would have been conscious of their body language and how it would be perceived. In his 2018 address, which drew laughs from the crowd, Trump had only been in power a little over a year and his bombastic style stood in contrast to the usual staid speeches of others at such moments.

However, Collett said it was likely not a "deliberate decision" to react differently this time around, more a reaction to the fact that the "political zeitgeist has changed."

Naturally, in a crowd, reactions can be contagious and it is also possible that this led to the blanket reaction seen on Tuesday. But Collett suggested that wasn't a key factor here.

"There's always the possibility that the muted response from the delegates to Trump's speech isn't due simply to the fact that they're watching each other, but rather to the fact that, as individual representatives, they are reacting in very similar ways."

Edited by: Rob Mudge