President Trump mocked ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro for trying “to imitate my dance” in public appearances before US troops snatched him in a daring raid Saturday.
“He gets up there and he tries to imitate my dance a little bit, 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 told House Republicans at the rebranded Trump-Kennedy Center in Washington.
Trump revealed moments later that first lady Melania Trump disapproves of his signature moves, which have been emulated broadly by supporters, including NFL players after scoring touchdowns.
“She hates when I dance. I said, ‘Everybody wants me to dance, darling.’ ‘It’s not presidential,’” he quoted his wife as saying.
“She actually said, ‘Could you imagine FDR dancing?’ She said that to me… But she says, ‘Darling, please.’ 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!’”
Maduro, who made his first appearance on drug smuggling charges in Manhattan on Monday, was taken in the “most incredible” military mission, Trump also said.
“It was so complex. 152 airplanes… We had a lot of boots on the ground, but it was amazing. And think of it, nobody was killed,” the president said.
“And on the other side, a lot of people were killed — unfortunately, I say that. Soldiers, Cubans, mostly Cubans, but many, many killed… and our guys were, you know, our guys are jumping out of helicopters.”
