In a sequence obviously unworthy of a head of state, Donald Trump publicly delivered another transphobic tirade, this time illustrated by grotesque pantomime.
“My wife tells me not to do this, she tells me it’s not presidential at all (…); well, I am the president!” During a filmed speech this Tuesday, January 6, at a gathering with Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives, Donald Trump engaged in a transphobic show aimed at ridiculing trans athletes. Except that Melania is right: in this sequence unworthy of his status, the American president mostly covered himself with ridicule through facial expressions that are sweeping the world…
Donald Trump begins by reproaching Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan president whom he had had seized by the U.S. military during the night of January 2–3, for having imitated at a campaign rally his famous dance moves to the tune of “YMCA” by the Village People. An irritation that would even, according to the New York Times, have influenced his decision to launch the operation. “He’s a violent man. He shows himself and he tries a bit to imitate my dance”, notes the head of state, before mentioning his wife’s reproaches: “She hates it when I dance. I tell her that everyone wants me to dance. (…). She tells me ‘Honey, when you imitate weightlifters, it’s dreadful’.”
Donald Trump in goon mode
And the sitting president launches into one of those sequences abhorrent to his wife, this time aimed at ridiculing transgender athletes in women’s sports. The incumbent first mimics the effort of a cisgender weightlifter who would struggle to lift her bar, before imitating the entrance of a transgender athlete who, she, would lift the same weight effortlessly. Panting, groaning, tongue lolling, Donald Trump seems to sink into a session of gooning as he indulges his transphobic passion. And he ends to the laughter of a receptive crowd: “It’s crazy!”
On X (Twitter), Riley Marie Gaines, a former competitive American swimmer who has a show on the pro-Trump Fox News channel, cheerfully applauds by sharing the video of the sequence (below): “Trump’s imitation of a transgender weightlifter. No, I don’t regret my vote. This is perfect.”
Trump’s imitation of a trans weightlifter.
No, I don’t regret my vote. This is perfect. pic.twitter.com/i3GjOEw1C8
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) January 6, 2026
A political strategy
Donald Trump’s transphobia has long advanced openly. It was even a major axis of his re-election campaign, before he moved from words to actions once reinstated at the White House. After signing several transphobic decrees on the day of his inauguration, Donald Trump has relentlessly continued this battle for a year, notably through a decree that threatens to withhold federal funds from any school or institution allowing transgender girls to compete on girls’ teams.
As for the Trump show method, it is precisely the subject of the latest essay by journalist Philippe Corbé, Weapons of Mass Destruction, published this Wednesday by Grasset. The former United States correspondent analyzes how this president, who made himself known through television, uses and abuses the electoral potential offered by entertainment in our spectacle-driven societies. “He knows better than anyone how to capture and divert our attention. With him, it’s permanent show,” he summarizes to têtu·. In an excerpt of the book published on têtu·’s site, he also explains why transphobia was used within this strategy. As 2026 is an election year in the United States, with midterm elections scheduled for November, we are therefore not done with our woes.
