Althouse: Trump dances — Malaysian style.

October 26, 2025

Trump dances — Malaysian style.

🚨 EPIC! The moment President Trump notices the Malaysian dancers and JOINS IN!

It’s impossible NOT to love this.
pic.twitter.com/Rlbp4EqVCR
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 26, 2025

AND: Did Obama ever do anything comparable? There was this moment in Argentina in 2016. A very different mood:

60 comments:

Brylinski said...: Best President ever!; 10/26/25, 9:40 AM
Paul said...: And the left is saying he is senile and something is 'wrong' with him... bullshit. Trump is #1... and I did vote for this stuff!!!; 10/26/25, 9:41 AM
Brylinski said...: And many of you won't realize that until he's gone...; 10/26/25, 9:41 AM
Original Mike said...: They played YMCA at the UW hockey game last night. In Madison! I couldn't believe it. The students really got into it, too.; 10/26/25, 9:48 AM
Peachy said...: The left: That's Illegal!; 10/26/25, 9:49 AM
JCann said...: And he booked them for the grand ballroom opening event.; 10/26/25, 9:50 AM
n.n said...: Trump is having a ball dancing.; 10/26/25, 9:50 AM
Original Mike said...: I turned to my wife and said "Somebody's going to lose their job".; 10/26/25, 9:51 AM
tcrosse said...: The cats and chicks all get their kicks at the hop.; 10/26/25, 9:52 AM
bagoh20 said...: I think he's having the time of his life.
He knows he's at great mortal risk, and mindless hate could steal everything at any moment. Hard work and this is how you handle that.; 10/26/25, 9:53 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: When in Malaysia... don't do Jimmy's malaise.; 10/26/25, 9:54 AM
wendybar said...: The peoples President!!!; 10/26/25, 9:55 AM
bagoh20 said...: Those dancers anticipated this for days or longer and fully expected to be ignored. It's a small thing, but I bet they recount it forever.; 10/26/25, 9:56 AM
n.n said...: Foreign relationships. Human relationships. The people approve.; 10/26/25, 10:01 AM
Original Mike said...: "Those dancers anticipated this for days or longer and fully expected to be ignored. It's a small thing, but I bet they recount it forever."

Lot of smiles on those faces.; 10/26/25, 10:02 AM
The Vault Dweller said...: "Original Mike said...
They played YMCA at the UW hockey game last night. In Madison!"

Did they also play, "Jump Around?" I know that is a tradition for Badger Football games, but always wondered if it carries over to other sports.; 10/26/25, 10:08 AM
n.n said...: King... lord of the dance he is not. It's still fun to watch humanity in action.; 10/26/25, 10:13 AM
Original Mike said...: "Did they also play, "Jump Around?""

No, they don't play 'Jump Around' at hockey.

I am really curious to see if YMCA is repeated in the future or if it was a rogue sound guy. I have this mental image of a guy barricading himself in the production room, a la the movie FM.; 10/26/25, 10:19 AM
Joe Bar said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/26/25, 10:25 AM
Peachy said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/26/25, 10:26 AM
Peachy said...: The Free world loves Freedom.

The tyrant world - loves American Democraticals.; 10/26/25, 10:26 AM
Nancy said...: I was hoping for the Haka dance but I guess that's a different continent.; 10/26/25, 10:30 AM
Wilbur said...: tcrosse said...
The cats and chicks all get their kicks at the hop.

You calypso and you chicken at the hop. ( I had 3 older sisters. This was in their wheelhouse.); 10/26/25, 10:30 AM
Bob Boyd said...: A very different thing entirely.
Trump paused spontaneously and instinctively to call attention to the dancers and show his appreciation of what they were doing for him. It was a display of national pride, likely without expectation of reward.
Obama's dance was to call attention to Obama and was certainly planned and probably rehearsed.; 10/26/25, 10:34 AM
Big Mike said...: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim looks a little nonplussed for a moment but joins right in and shows that he knows the right moves for the dance. (Trump’s footwork looks to be off.)

Little touches like this show me that Trump is a natural at connecting with people.; 10/26/25, 10:34 AM
Not Illinois Resident said...: Trump is about as "American" as it gets.; 10/26/25, 10:35 AM
bagoh20 said...: One of the things I disagree with Trump on is his embrace of the YMCA song. I knew in advance, but I did not vote for that. A terrible song in every way.; 10/26/25, 10:39 AM
Original Mike said...: "Trump paused spontaneously and instinctively to call attention to the dancers and show his appreciation of what they were doing for him."

There are a lot of reports of how personable Trump is with the staff.; 10/26/25, 10:42 AM
Michael Fitzgerald said...: "It's impossible NOT to love this!"
Dude, do you know any Democrat Party members at all? Have you been in a coma for 25 years? (D)espicable Party members who see that are going to gnash their teeth in rage because Trump. It's what they do. It's who they are.; 10/26/25, 10:44 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: I don't recall ever seeing the Obama tango. I did watch it. I forgot he acted like a real president sometimes too. Not really. I do wish he hadn't violated so many norms and rules during his two terms because it led directly to the most controversial parts of the current administration. No one who pretends to fight fascists today ever stood up to Obama's authoritarian overreach as president and odious behavior as an ex-president.; 10/26/25, 10:45 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Bagoh it is Trump's way of single handedly keeping the concept and modeling of phonics alive until it is finally restored in place of woke reading bullshit that has caused literacy to drop precipitously.; 10/26/25, 10:48 AM
n.n said...: Dancing is humanizing and an inclusive activity for boys and girls. Trump and Obama, too.; 10/26/25, 10:56 AM
Lazarus said...: Presidents have to keep moving or they will be nibbled to death for every little thing they say or do. What's attacked as "chaos" may be a strategy of keeping the predators at bay.
·
Trump, Clinton, and Obama did have a certain charm. Opponents might warm to them if they met them in person. How much of that was real charm and how much was the aura of power and celebrity is another matter.; 10/26/25, 11:08 AM
D.D. Driver said...: Trump looks like a man of the people. Obama comes across like what would happen in a movie if the president of a high school drama club freaky fridayed into the body of the president.; 10/26/25, 11:10 AM
Beasts of England said...: Not a bad effort by Obama…; 10/26/25, 11:16 AM
Gospace said...: Nancy said...
I was hoping for the Haka dance but I guess that's a different continent.

Upgrading New Zealand a bit there... Different island...; 10/26/25, 11:29 AM
narciso said...: Interesting anwar ibrahim was the subject of a complex slander scheme thr grapevine that quite a few right of center bloggers participated in; 10/26/25, 11:55 AM
boatbuilder said...: The tango was Ok, but it wasn't Obama's idea. Trump just grabbed the moment. There's nobody like him.; 10/26/25, 12:08 PM
boatbuilder said...: The tango was Ok, but it wasn't Obama's idea. Trump just grabbed the moment. There's nobody like him.; 10/26/25, 12:08 PM
Wilbur said...: I'd give Obama a C+/B- for the dance effort, even if rehearsed. Far better than his grade for golf or basketball.

Almost anyone who gets to the upper stratum of our society has the ability to, when needed, charm the birds out the trees. Especially true for politicians.; 10/26/25, 12:24 PM
Original Mike said...: "Upgrading New Zealand a bit there... Different island..."

Actually, many argue that Zealandia is a continent.; 10/26/25, 12:29 PM
Iman said...: Obama should’ve been doing the “Shy Tuna” or the “Hypocrite”, more fitting…; 10/26/25, 12:31 PM
Dave Begley said...: Dancing King.; 10/26/25, 12:36 PM
Mark CA said...: Didn’t George Bush dance on a trip to Africa?; 10/26/25, 12:38 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Obama did well there but I suspect he was used to not leading in a dance.; 10/26/25, 12:40 PM
Howard said...: Trump only pumping the one arm. He must've had a stroke on the aeroplane ride over. Vance putting together a 25th amendment team at the Naval Observatory; 10/26/25, 12:49 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Howard at 12:49 PM for the win.; 10/26/25, 12:53 PM
n.n said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/26/25, 2:24 PM
n.n said...: George bush african tribal dance

George and Laura dancing with the natives, with George on drum, and everyone having a gay old time.; 10/26/25, 2:26 PM
Clyde said...: I thought that rhythm was going to break into Joan Jett's "Do You Want to Touch Me? (Oh Yeah!)" Although after going back to give Joan a listen, the Malaysian beat was a bit faster.; 10/26/25, 3:42 PM
Michael McNeil said...: As noted above, New Zealand is part of the largely submerged geologic “continent” of Zealandia, which also includes French New Caledonia.; 10/26/25, 3:54 PM
Nancy said...: If I was actually geographically correct, I will accept the prodigy! I do know the capitals of North and South Dakota.(News you can use: Germany is sort of north of France, so the capital of ND is Bismarck, capital of SD is Pierre.); 10/26/25, 4:38 PM
Jamie said...: Well, Obama is better at the tango than I am, and I'm glad to know he ever did that, but I agree with those above who have pointed out that Trump was dancing spontaneously and Obama was not (and also that, as so often happened, Obama was doing a thing in order to appear in a certain way - in which he was perhaps not all that different from many presidents, though I think he was more into his own PR than most).

Trump is a honey badger. You know what they say about those guys.; 10/26/25, 4:47 PM
Jamie said...: (BTW, "better at the tango than I am" is a very low bar. This isn't intended as an insult to Obama's dancing but only an acknowledgement of my utter lack of ability.); 10/26/25, 4:49 PM
Rusty said...: bagoh20 said...
"Those dancers anticipated this for days or longer and fully expected to be ignored. It's a small thing, but I bet they recount it forever."

That's just it, isn't it? He's got great instincts and he loves people. Especially if they're having a good time.; 10/26/25, 8:21 PM
Mason G said...: "He's got great instincts and he loves people."

Loves people? Well- no wonder he's hated by the left.; 10/26/25, 8:54 PM
Bunkypotatohead said...: Now we know what next week's outrage will be about.
Either he offended someone or appropriated their culture.; 10/26/25, 10:08 PM
phantommut said...: I think it's good to see Presidents being human in general.

Trump is by far the most naturally engaging (and engaged) President of my lifetime.

He's like the most powerful 8-year-old of all time.; 10/26/25, 10:57 PM
Jim at said...: That's just it, isn't it? He's got great instincts and he loves people. Especially if they're having a good time.

It's taken some time, but my wife is slowly coming around on Trump. She - like a lot of women - don't like his Playboy attitude, multiple divorces and his propensity to just, well, be THAT guy.

Likes his policies and politics, but not the personality.

So during the campaign last year, I showed her clips of him interacting with the guys at the barbershop. The staff and crew at Subway. The McDonalds gig.

She still thinks he's a cad, but ... she's realizing he's not the monster he's portrayed to be.; 10/26/25, 11:03 PM
Rocco said...: Michael McNeil said...
“As noted above, New Zealand is part of the largely submerged geologic “continent” of Zealandia, which also includes French New Caledonia.”

Sundaland enters the chat from the Malaysia side. Wearing a snorkel.; 10/27/25, 12:23 PM