Melania Trump Reportedly Said The Quiet Part Out Loud About Donald's Cringe Dancing

Melania Trump finally seemed to indulge Donald Trump's dancing at the 2025 Mar-a-Lago New Year's Eve party (though he only had eyes for Elon Musk). But she apparently isn't really a fan of his dancing, nor does she think that other people are either, and she's even tried to get him to stop. Donald talked about it during his speech to the House GOP retreat on January 6, held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. (a recent rebrand as the "Trump Kennedy Center" is being challenged in court).

Donald said that Melania "hates when I dance," according to LiveNOW from Fox. And his counter to that? "Everybody wants me to dance." We're not sure that we agree on that point, though it does track with the size of Donald's ego. But Melania apparently did her best to convince him to stop. As Donald told it, "[Melania said] 'Darling, it's not presidential.' She actually said, 'Can you imagine FDR dancing?'" 

Trump: She hates when I dance. Everybody wants me to dance. "Darling, it's not presidential." She actually said, "Can you imagine FDR dancing?" She actually said that to me. I said perhaps there is a long history she doesn't know. Because he was an elegant fellow, even as a... pic.twitter.com/3tEdnJFc3o

— Acyn (@Acyn) January 6, 2026

The FDR mention got Donald even further onto another tangent. "I said perhaps there is a long history she doesn't know. Because he was an elegant fellow, even as a Democrat. The attack by Japan, he was quite elegant." We think that was a reference to Pearl Harbor? Though we're not sure what it has to do with dancing or elegance in any way. Donald then swung back to what Melania reiterated about his dancing: "She said, 'they don't like it, they're just being nice to you.'" We appreciate Melania's effort in getting the dancing to stop and telling him the truth. Though it clearly hasn't worked.

Despite admitting not long before that Melania Trump wasn't a fan of his dancing, Donald Trump couldn't help himself. At the end of his speech, he danced to one of his favorite songs– "YMCA" — giving us yet another addition to the list of Donald's awkward dancing moments. And as you might guess, social media users have pounced on Donald's story about Melania hating his dancing. One person on X said, "It's normal for younger people to be embarrassed by their elders dancing." Donald is 24 years older than Melania. And another critic posted: "This man is not well. He's like the class clown acting out for laughs from the crowd. He lives on attention, good or bad."

While the overall sentiment that Melania doesn't like his dancing seems true, some people didn't believe all the details of the story as Donald told it. Many were confused about the reference to Franklin Roosevelt; FDR had polio, which caused paralysis, and he used a wheelchair. Some thought it was clear that neither Melania or Donald knew that, and one person quipped, "no man knows less about everything than this man." Others said that the story isn't true because they don't think Melania would call him "darling." 

It might be that Donald's dancing has impacted international politics. In his speech to the House GOP, Donald talked about how Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro apparently imitated his signature dance style not long before the U.S. captured him, and after the U.S. had attacked a number of boats off the Venezuelan coast. Some have said that Maduro's dancing, seemingly mocking him, played a role in convincing Donald to go ahead with the capture of Maduro, per The New York Times.