President Donald Trump's first public appearance since Republicans suffered substantial losses at the polls drew scrutiny from a body language expert, who said the president displayed unusual gestures while speaking about the White House ballroom project.

Dr. John Paul Garrison, a clinical and forensic psychologist and body language expert, highlighted the moment in a video analysis posted online, zooming in on Trump's arm movements. Garrison said he has noted similar behavior before, observing that at times Trump appears not to have full control of his limbs and mouth. His commentary is part of a series of video analyses he has published on the president's demeanor — a form of expert commentary that reads public figures' visible behavior rather than offering clinical evaluations.

Garrison pointed to moments when the ballroom construction crew handed Trump a hard hat. "We're seeing him engage in some strange behavior in his mouth as well as his arms. All of it appears to be involuntary," Garrison said.

"His behavior before and after gives me no indication that that was a voluntary behavior. And as I've talked about many times, there can be multiple reasons for something like this," he explained. "Whether it's a focal aware seizure, whether it's something related to some form of dementia or vascular dementia or something similar, or whether it's related to scarring in the brain after a stroke, there are a wide variety of neurological reasons we might see something like this." Garrison stopped short of offering a diagnosis, presenting the possibilities as explanations to weigh rather than conclusions about the president's health.

Garrison opened his video with a joke suggesting that, as Trump's first speech since the heavy midterm loss, the president had focused on unifying America. He then clarified he was kidding: Trump spoke only about the ballroom. Garrison noted that Trump is typically excited when discussing his construction and craft projects, but appeared fairly low-energy during Wednesday's remarks.

"Now, if you've watched my channel before, you've probably seen that I've talked extensively about his apparent neurological decline," Garrison said. "And part of that is having limited insight, having poor judgment, being grandiose. And this right here, what we're observing right here, speaks to all of those."

Garrison said Trump's rambling about columns showed what he described as poor judgment, which he identified as the main reason he has been producing these videos.

"He may neurologically be incapable of having good judgment at this point," he said. "And that's part of the point I'm trying to make with all of these other videos is that while his behavior is absurd, some of it may be that there is dysfunction that's so bad he's not capable of making better decisions at this point. It certainly doesn't excuse any of this behavior, but hopefully helps you make sense of how it could be so profoundly absurd."

Garrison added that even if the event had been scheduled before the historic election losses, the fact that it marked Trump's first remarks afterward demonstrates "how poor his judgment is and his inability to think through critical situations, his inability to use critical thinking at all."