Explaining Christian Pulisic’s ‘Donald Trump dance’ celebration and its impact

By
James BAOUCH
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On Monday night, United States men’s national team player Christian Pulisic became the latest athlete to imitate president-elect Donald Trump’s now infamous dance moves.

Since Trump won the U.S. presidential election this month, his dance to the Village People’s YMCA song, which sees him pump his arms and wiggle his hips, has transitioned from the campaign trail to professional sports.

Pulisic joins a growing trend amongst American sports stars across the NFL, college football, golf, and the UFC in emulating it — a moment that went viral on social media and dominated all post-match discussion.

The Athletic answers the key questions around Pulisic’s celebration, the reaction to it and why it has had such an impact.

What happened?

After scoring the U.S. men’s national team’s opening goal in their 4-2 win over Jamaica, Pulisic became the latest American athlete to celebrate by mimicking the dance president-elect Trump had been performing on the campaign trail.

After shooting past Jamaica goalkeeper Andre Blake, the 26-year-old ran towards the corner flag before moving his arms and hips in a similar way to Trump’s dance. Pulisic’s team-mates, Weston McKennie and Ricardo Pepi, ran over and joined in.

After the game, Pulisic confirmed that he was imitating Trump, but said there was no underlying political message to his choice of celebration.

Why is the dance significant?

President-elect Trump had been performing the dance to the Village People’s YMCA throughout the campaign.

Although it was not the dance widely associated with YMCA, Trump’s moves quickly went viral on social media and were broadcast on various TV networks.

It continued to gather traction at each rally held by Trump, with the 78-year-old more than happy to play along for the cameras. During one campaign stop in Macon, Georgia, two days before polling day, Trump added a golf swing to the dance.


Trump’s dance became a feature of his election campaign (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)

Have any other athletes done it?

Yes, plenty.

Nick Bosa, the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive end, was one of the first athletes to perform the dance after he sacked Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield on November 10.

Bosa, 27, had been fined $11,125 by the NFL on November 9 for wearing a ‘Make America Great Again’ — Trump’s campaign slogan — when he gatecrashed Brock Purdy’s post-game interview in the run-up to the election for violating the NFL’s uniform and equipment rules.

Before the fine came through, Bosa was asked in a media huddle in the locker room if he expected to be given a financial sanction. He replied by saying, “It was well worth it.”

Since then, and following Trump leading the Republican Party to election victory, several other NFL players — including Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers and Tennessee Titans wide receiver Calvin Ridley — have mimicked Trump’s dance when celebrating. It has also been copied in college football.

Following Saturday night’s UFC 309 headline bout between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic, Jones celebrated his knockout win by doing the dance. What made this more pertinent, however, is that Trump was sitting ringside. Jones gave the president-elect his championship belt.

It has not been restricted to American athletes, either. Charley Hull, the British golfer, was captured performing the move during her final round battle against Nelly Korda on Sunday at the Annika tournament held at Pelican Golf Club.

Why is this different?

All of the athletes mentioned above represent themselves or a team. In Pulisic’s case, he did the dance while wearing U.S. colors and representing his country, an important distinction.

There’s also the issue of soccer’s place as an immigrant sport in the United States, as well as Trump’s links to the 2026 World Cup in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Many players across all of U.S. national team programs are immigrants and some — like USMNT midfielder Yunus Musah, who played alongside Pulisic — are eligible to play on the team via birthright citizenship, something the Trump administration openly called to restrict in his first term. He said on the campaign trail that he intends to revive that plan when he takes office next year.

These are issues that often feel more specific to soccer in the United States than other sports.

What did Pulisic say about it?

The Milan player was questioned by reporters about the celebration and said he thought it was “funny” and that there was no political message behind it.

“Well obviously that’s the Trump dance,” Pulisic said. “It was just a dance that everyone’s doing. He’s the one who created it. I just thought it was funny.

“It’s not a political dance. It was just for fun. I saw a bunch of people do it and I thought it was funny, so I enjoyed it. I hope some people did, at least.”

Pulisic has not spoken publicly about his specific political views and has never publicly expressed his support for President Trump.

What about his teammates and USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino?

Pochettino was not asked about the celebration in his post-game press conference and he did not raise it independently.

Pepi — who celebrated alongside Pulisic — did address it, though it remained unclear whether the striker, who plays for PSV in the Netherlands, understood the perceived significance of the dance.

“To be honest it’s something that just happens during the game,” Pepi told The Athletic’s Paul Tenorio. “You know, we don’t really plan anything. Whether it’s another teammate celebrating, I’m just always gonna join in because I’m happy for them.”

What has been U.S. Soccer’s reaction?

The USSF has not responded publicly to Pulisic’s celebration, though it feels noteworthy that they cut the dance from the clips of his goal they shared on their social media channels.

The federation has policies in place that govern what they consider inappropriate behavior by players, specifically its code of conduct, which includes language addressing actions that may not “reflect well on U.S. Soccer.” The federation can punish players for violating that code, though there is no suggestion that Pulisic’s celebration would rise to that level.

More widely there is a recognition at U.S. Soccer that Trump is likely to be a visible presence around the sport in the coming years, particularly with the 2026 World Cup on home soil less than two years away. With that in mind, there is a sense within the federation that the realpolitik of its role is likely to focus more on its core objective of increasing grassroots participation and mainstream popularity of the sport — playing and watching it — rather than encouraging activism among players.

On Tuesday, a federation spokesperson declined to comment on Pulisic’s celebration when contacted by The Athletic. Others within the federation, who spoke anonymously in order to protect their relationships, expressed varying viewpoints about it, ranging from anger to indifference.

“Literally nobody here is surprised,” said one current USSF employee. “It doesn’t feel that way, at least. But it’s still really disappointing, to say the least.”

That disappointment was tempered by at least one other federation staffer who simply said that those working at U.S. Soccer have “more pressing things to worry about.”

The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), under whose auspices the game against Jamaica was held, also declined to comment when contacted by The Athletic.

What has been the reaction more widely?

Pulisic has faced his share of criticism on social media but he has received a lot of support — unsurprisingly given the nature of the recent election result.

In terms of the federation’s relationship with its largest sponsors — U.S. giants like Nike, Michelob and AT&T — this will likely have little to no effect. Trump was fairly elected and additionally won the popular vote.

Americans who have aligned themselves with the incoming president are also consumers, and the federation itself — along with its biggest sponsors — are likely in no rush to alienate them and lose their purchasing power.

As Michael Jordan is once supposed to have joked, when asked why he did not engage more in politics during his own sports career, ‘”Republicans buy sneakers, too.”



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