US President Donald Trump on Tuesday mocked Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, accusing him of imitating his trademark dance moves, as he celebrated Maduro’s capture in a wide-ranging and often theatrical speech to Republican lawmakers.
Trump’s remarks followed a report by The New York Times, which said Maduro’s repeated public appearances dancing defiantly amid US threats helped convince senior White House officials that it was time to act.
“One of his crimes is copying my dance,” Trump said, repeating the joke several times during his speech.
Read related story from New Daily Prime: How US–Venezuela relations collapsed under Trump, ending in Maduro’s capture
Maduro, a leftist leader, had frequently appeared on stage in late 2025 dancing to a techno remix of his slogan “No War, Yes Peace,” even as US forces massed in the Caribbean. Trump, by contrast, is known for dancing to the disco hit “Y.M.C.A.” at his political rallies.
While the president praised what he called a “brilliant” US special forces raid that captured Maduro and his wife over the weekend, he offered few details about the operation or about his previously stated plans for the United States to “run” oil-rich Venezuela following Maduro’s fall.
Much of Trump’s speech instead focused on domestic politics, as he effectively launched the Republican push for the 2026 US midterm elections. With his party facing the historical trend of midterm losses for incumbent presidents, Trump urged lawmakers to concentrate on issues such as healthcare, inflation and the cost of living.
The 79-year-old president repeatedly veered off script, returning to jokes about dancing and physical gestures. While discussing his administration’s ban on transgender women competing in women’s and girls’ sports, Trump acted out what he described as a transgender weightlifter.
“My wife hates when I do this,” he said. “She said, ‘It’s so unpresidential.’ She hates it when I dance.”
Trump then added, “Could you imagine FDR dancing?”—a reference to Franklin D. Roosevelt, who served from 1933 to 1945 and was paralyzed from the waist down after contracting polio.
The speech also coincided with the fifth anniversary of the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack, carried out by Trump supporters angry over what he continues to falsely describe as his “rigged” election loss to Joe Biden. Trump was impeached a second time over the riot and warned Republicans that Democrats could again move to impeach him if the party fails to win control of Congress.
“You’ve got to win the midterms,” Trump told lawmakers. “Because if we don’t win… they’ll find a reason to impeach me.”
Trump pardoned nearly 1,600 January 6 rioters on his first day back in office on January 20, 2025.
Despite his claims that the economy is performing well, polls show many Americans remain worried about the affordability of everyday goods. Expressing frustration with voter sentiment, Trump told Republicans: “I wish you could explain to me what the hell’s going on with the mind of the public. Because we have the right policy.”
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