Venezuela’s Maduro copied my dance – but Melania hates it, Trump says
A US news report says the Venezuelan leader’s regular public dancing convinced White House officials it was time to act
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused Nicolas Maduro of imitating his dancing, among other crimes, as he celebrated the capture of the Venezuelan leader in a freewheeling speech to Republican lawmakers.
Trump’s comments come after a New York Times report that Maduro’s regular public dancing in defiance of US threats convinced White House officials that it was time to act.
“He gets up there and he tries to imitate my dance a little bit,” Trump told lawmakers at the Kennedy Centre in Washington – which was recently renamed the Trump-Kennedy Centre by his hand-picked board.
“But he’s a violent guy, and he’s killed millions of people. He’s tortured. They have a torture chamber in the middle of Caracas that they’re closing up.”
Trump did not give further details about the alleged torture chamber, or elaborate on his so-far vague plans for the United States to “run” oil-rich Venezuela following the fall of Maduro.
Leftist Maduro regularly appeared on stage dancing to a techno remix of his mantra “No War, Yes Peace” as US forces massed in the Caribbean in late 2025.