During a gathering with Republican lawmakers, Donald Trump shared a candid moment about his wife’s least favorite aspect of his speeches—it’s not his words, but his actions. First Lady Melania Trump has expressed her dislike for Trump’s imitation of weight-lifting when discussing transgender athletes, suggesting it’s not fitting for a president. She also isn’t fond of his on-stage dance, a spectacle that has gained popularity. Speaking at the GOP retreat at the Trump-Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Trump mentioned Melania’s plea for him to stop his post-speech dance to the tune of the Village People’s Y.M.C.A., to which she remarked, ‘They’re just being polite, not genuinely entertained.’

Trump, however, disagrees with her critique, insisting, ‘The place goes crazy,’ when he performs his dance, which involves enthusiastic arm-pumping. His miming of weight-lifting and dancing have indeed struck a chord with his supporters. During his speech, Trump reiterated his stance against Democrats allowing biological men to participate in women’s sports. As he began to mimic lifting a barbell, he paused to share Melania’s opinion on the matter.

‘My wife despises it when I do this,’ Trump confessed. ‘She’s very refined, you know? She told me, ‘It’s so unpresidential.’ I replied, ‘But I became president, didn’t I?’ Her response was, ‘Darling, the weight-lifting act is terrible.’ This revelation drew laughter from the Republican audience gathered for their annual retreat, coinciding with the five-year anniversary of the January 6 Capitol events. Despite Melania’s disapproval, Trump continued to demonstrate his point, illustrating how a female athlete struggled with a lift while a transgender competitor easily surpassed it, breaking a world record.

At first he gave a miniature version of his imitation, but then said, ‘I want to be more effusive,’ and gave it another go. This time the president stuck out his tongue, breathed heavily and acted fatigued with his arms beside his chest to make it look like he was holding a barbell before pretending to drop it on the ground. Republicans went wild. The speech was meant to embolden Republicans ahead of a tough midterm election season where, if history repeats itself, could see the party losing its majority in at least one, if not both chambers of Congress.

‘I just want to say this,’ the president said during the conclusion of his lengthy speech where he admittedly went completely off-script. ‘I think I gave you something – it’s just a roadmap. And it’s a roadmap to victory. You have so many good nuggets – you have to use them. If you can sell them, we’re going to win.’ Trump said that he wants to keep the transgender athlete talk on the down low during the 2026 midterm campaign because he doesn’t want to give Democrats the chance to flip their stance. ‘I want to start bringing up about a week before the election, because I don’t want them to correct themselves,’ the president advised, insisting: ‘That’d be a devastating blow for us.’

Trump went on at a few points in his speech to discuss sports, claiming: ‘I’m a big sports person. I love sports!’ He called out Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan for being ‘all-American’ in wrestling at Ohio State University. But the president seemed more concerned with the lawmaker’s potential ‘plastic survey’ procedures, saying that his ‘cauliflower ear,’ which is a common ear disfiguration condition for wrestlers, has looked better over the years.

He also discussed golf, his favorite pastime. ‘I play speed golf. It’s better that way,’ Trump insisted. ‘You know the expression, ‘Miss it quick’? No, I play speed golf.’ He then contradicted the self deprecating statement, claiming: ‘But I’m a good golfer. Everybody that I’ve beaten in this group – I love golf.’ ‘But I don’t get to play much,’ he lamented, despite spending almost every weekend at one of his golf courses.