Trump says Melania ‘hates’ him dancing to ‘The Gay National Anthem’ at his rallies and begged him to stop
President Donald Trump joked that his wife “hated it” when she danced to the Village People’s hit song YMCA and begged her to stop, dubbing the iconic track the “Gay National Anthem.”
Trump spoke to MAGA supporters on Friday at The Villages in Florida, a massive retirement community that has previously made headlines for its shaky and wild behavior.
During his speech, he went on a tangent about things that First Lady Melania Trump hates, explaining that she believes his dance moves are “unpresidential.”
‘He hates it when I dance to the song, which is sometimes called the gay national anthem,’ he told the crowd, adding: ‘We love this song.’
Trump was often seen dancing to his 1978 disco hit on the campaign trail. He boasted that his use of the song led to a surge in popularity of the decades-old hit.
Melania herself admitted she was hesitant about Trump’s admiration for the song. Fox News In January, he said he only enjoyed it ‘certain times.’
‘Some days it just isn’t convenient and that’s what I told him. “But it’s his dancing and I think people love it,” he added.
YMCA took the No. 1 spot for the week of November 17, 2024, after the president played the song during his campaign tour.
Donald Trump joked at a recent speaking event that he didn’t like his wife’s dance moves to the YMCA song, pictured above.
The Village People was founded in 1978 and gained popularity among the gay community. Members of the group in the 70s were photographed
Trump clarified that he did not think Melania’s dance moves were ‘presidential’. The couple were photographed together above earlier this week
Village People earned numerous accolades during the disco era, but YMCA didn’t regain the top spot until 2024; This is an accomplishment that Trump is confident and boastful of.
However, the album featuring the song, Cruisin’, became an international hit, reaching No. 1 in 17 countries.
The album has sold over 12 million copies and was preserved by the National Recording Registry of the US Library of Congress in 2020.
The YMCA’s ‘Gay National Anthem’ is widely discussed. Some have interpreted the lyrics as being about gay men finding community in the organization. Others believe ‘having a good time’ is a euphemism for gay sex.
However, Victor Willis, one of the song’s co-writers, denied the comment in 2024.
“As I have said many times in the past, this is a false assumption based on the fact that my writing partner is gay, and some (but not all) of the Village People are gay, and the first Village People album is all about gay life,” he explained in a statement on social media.
‘This assumption is also based on the fact that the YMCA was apparently used as some sort of gay meeting place and one of the writers was gay and some of the Village People were also gay, the song is supposed to be a message to gay people. So I say once again, get your head out of the mud. Not.”
Willis said that although Trump’s continued use of the song was a “trouble” for him, the president’s team had obtained a license and Trump “didn’t have the heart” to fight it.
The group performed at a ball pictured above on the eve of Trump’s inauguration in 2025. The move caused widespread backlash from Village People’s fan base
It is being debated whether YMCA is the ‘Gay National Anthem’ or not. Some of the band’s original members were gay and had a diverse audience. The original group was pictured in 1979.
The Village People has encountered a changing roster of musicians since its inception in the disco era.
The group was founded by French producers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo. Willis was the next artist hired and the only remaining original member.
The band’s name was inspired by Greenwich Village, a neighborhood that emerged as a haven for New York City’s LGBTQ+ community and where the Stonewall Riots occurred.
Many of the original members were gay, including Morali, who died of complications from AIDS in 1991.
The Village People performed at a ball on the eve of Trump’s inauguration last year, prompting backlash from some of the band’s original fan base.
YMCA writer Victor Willis, pictured above, previously said the song was not the ‘Gay National Anthem’.
Melania Trump said she did not believe her husband’s dance moves in the song were ‘presidential’. Above is a photo of her dancing at a rally in 2024
Jim Newman, a former member of the band, spoke out against the band’s performance, claiming that the original band would ‘never, ever perform at a Trump rally.’
‘This is a new and completely separate entity from the Long-Storied Village People, with whom I had the honor of being a part of for 8 years. “It’s sad to watch what happened to the Village People brand, but greed has a way of destroying good things,” Newman said.
Arguing that the decision is a way to bring the country together, the Village People added that they believe that ‘music should be performed regardless of politics’.
The Daily Mail has contacted the group’s team for comment on Trump’s latest remarks.
