Donald Trump joked that First Lady Melania Trump hates it when he dances for his supporters and even told him that President Franklin D Roosevelt would not have done the same.
Speaking at the House Republicans' retreat to set election-year goals at the Kennedy Center, the president claimed his supporters want to see him dance.
Trump’s style of dancing became a trademark of his election campaign, where he often led crowds of MAGA loyalists in a dance along to The Village People’s “YMCA.”
Trump said, “She hates when I dance. I said, ‘everybody wants me to dance’. ‘Darling, it’s not presidential’... she actually said ‘could you imagine FDR dancing?’, she said that to me.
“And I said that there’s a long history that perhaps she doesn’t know. Because he was an elegant fellow, even as a Democrat, right, the attack by Japan, you know, he was quite elegant, but he wouldn’t be doing this, but, but nor would too many others.
“But she says, ‘Darling, please, the weight lifting is terrible.”
In fact, Trump’s dancing ability came under fire from professional dancers. Brandon Chow, the founder of Hip Hop Dance Junkies, said, “On a scale of one to 10, I would say three. Three or four max.”
He told The Guardian: “The arms are there, the arms are very stiff, though – they’re not really moving. It’s literally him with his fists tight and his arms to his side.
“I mean, there is no movement where he’s leaving his comfort zone or his space. He’s literally just stepping in place, side to side, hips swaying.”
The president’s latest comments come amid reports that White House aides told him that deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was mocking him by dancing at rallies.
In the weeks before Washington stepped up pressure on Caracas, Maduro appeared at public events alongside his wife, Cilia Flores, giving a relaxed and defiant image despite mounting international scrutiny.
One appearance in December, at the opening of an International School for Women’s Leadership, showed Maduro dancing to an electronic remix of a speech titled "No War, Yes Peace."
The footage circulated widely online, with many drawing comparisons to Trump’s rally gestures. One official reportedly described the incident as "one dance move too many".
Maduro has often used music and performance in his political messaging, including a televised rendition of John Lennon’s “Imagine” in November, framed as a call for peace amid strained relations with Washington.
