President Donald Trump‘s signature “Y.M.C.A.” dance made it onto the World Cup field.
Belgium beat U.S.A. decisively in a July 6 round of 16 World Cup match that was mired in controversy. Days before the game, it looked like U.S.A. forward Folarin Balogun was going to sit out after receiving a red card on July 1 that carried an automatic one-game suspension. But Trump had called FIFA President Gianni Infantino asking for a review of the red card, and days later, the punishment was suspended. Belgium appealed to have the decision reviewed, which FIFA denied.
After Belgium player Romelu Lukaku scored in second-half stoppage time to complete Belgium’s win, the striker and his teammates celebrated with what appeared to be Trump’s signature fist-pumping dance.
It isn’t the first time others have used the dance, either in support or protest of Trump. But one person definitely does not like the dance: first lady Melania Trump.
Donald Trump says Melania Trump does not like the ‘YMCA’ dance
Trump has broken into his fist-pumping dance at events from rallies to inauguration balls, dating all the way back to at least a 2004 SNL skit.
President Trump has said multiple times that the first lady asks him not to do the dance.
“By the way, my wife hates when I do this. She said, you know, she’s a very classy person, right? She said, ‘it’s so un-presidential,'” Trump said at a Jan. 6 retreat with House Republicans. “And I have to say this, the dancing they really like. She said, ‘they don’t like it, they’re just being nice to you.’ I said, ‘that’s not right.’ The place goes crazy. They’re screaming dance please.”
Other athletes have done the Trump dance, like golfer Charley Hull, who said in 2024, “I love it when he does his little dance,” and praised the president. But sometimes the dance is used to mock him. Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, a board member of the Kennedy Center who argued it could not be renamed after the president, posted a video of herself doing the dance with the captions “POV: When you protect the Kennedy Center” and “Am I doing the dance right, Trump?”
Belgium claps back at red card call
While the dance may have been a more subtle reference to President Donald Trump and the red card controversy, Belgium’s national team clapped back directly on social media.
The team posted photos showing Lukaku celebrating his goal with teammate Timothy Castagne. The photos were accompanied by the caption, “Overturn this.”
FIFA reversed Balogun’s red card on July 5 after Trump lobbied Infantino to review it. The reversal meant Balogun was allowed to play in the crucial match against Belgium. FIFA’s decision came under scrutiny by The Royal Belgian Football Association, which said it was “astonished” to hear the news. UEFA, the governing body of European football, also said it was in “disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision.”
Both Trump and Infantino defended the move, saying in separate comments that the U.S. president did not influence the decision.
“All I did, I asked for a review because I didn’t think it was a foul,” Trump told reporters on July 6 in the Oval Office.
Infantino released a statement on July 6 emphasizing that FIFA’s disciplinary committee operates independently, a principle he said he “will always uphold.”
“On this matter, I did receive a call from President Donald Trump, just as I receive calls from heads of state, government officials, football stakeholders and business executives from around the world on many different issues,” he said.
Contributing: Victoria Hernandez, USA TODAY
Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at KCrowley@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X (Twitter), Threads, Bluesky and TikTok.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump says Melania hates the ‘YMCA’ dance, which appeared at World Cup
