Anyone who attends Donald Trump’s events will always hear the song “YMCA” by the Village People. But why did Trump choose this song as his personal anthem?
David Schafbuch reports from Washington
When Kamala Harris spoke to tens of thousands in Washington last week, the audience was confused for a few minutes. While the crowd waited for the 60-year-old Democratic presidential candidate’s speech, a song that the audience had not expected was played to get the mood in the mood. “That’s a stupid Trump song!” shouted a woman in the crowd when she heard the first notes. It was the disco classic “YMCA” by the Village People.
In fact, the song has long been a standard song at every Trump event: it sometimes plays long before Trump takes the stage, while he walks to the lectern or after the end of his appearances – sometimes it plays at all three times in one evening. The 78-year-old also likes to dance, stretching out his arms alternately to the beat.
From the outside, the choice of song seems contradictory: the hit from 1978 is known worldwide as an anthem for homosexual men. Politically, however, Trump has restricted the rights of homosexuals in the past and announced during the election campaign that he would also do the same for trans people if he won the election. So why does Trump keep playing this song?
Trump himself explained in the “Full Send” podcast in 2022 why he liked the song so much. He occasionally chooses the music at parties at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. The disco hit is always a success. “You know what gets people going? YMCA,” Trump said of his music choices. In the podcast he called the track the “national gay anthem.”
Trump probably came into contact with the song long before his political career. The song was released in 1978, when Trump was 32 years old and already a local fixture in his hometown of New York. The band also comes from the city: the group’s name is based on the Greenwich Village district of Manhattan. In the city it is considered an alternative center where many homosexuals also live.
No meeting with the band
Trump, who has often played the band’s title “Macho Man” at his events in the past, has no other points of contact with the group. It is not publicly known whether the band and the then-entrepreneur-turned-politician ever met in person.
At the same time, Trump has so far pursued policies that restrict the rights of homosexuals and trans people, for example. During the election campaign, he repeatedly promised that he wanted to ban men from taking part in women’s sports competitions in the future. The pledge aims to exclude trans people from sporting competitions. Trump also said that as president he would work to ensure that only two genders can be registered for children. He also wants to cut funding for state programs to promote diversity.
The band itself has so far given mixed signals about how it feels about the former US president’s choice of music. A few years ago, lead singer Victor Willis said that although he did not support Trump politically, the song was intended for everyone. Therefore, he will not legally defend himself against “YMCA” being played at Trump events. This could also have something to do with the fact that the band also benefits financially from it: in 2020, Willis told the British broadcaster BBC that the song had also climbed back up the charts.
However, Willis later changed his mind about Trump: In 2023, a video emerged in which a cover band played the song “Macho Man” while Trump was present. The group’s management subsequently issued a cease-and-desist notice. The video therefore gives the impression that the group actively supports Donald Trump. The group had previously distanced itself from Trump after he made critical comments about the “Black Lives Matter” movement.
However, “YMCA” still plays at almost every presidential event to this day. The American entertainment portal “tmz” recently revealed the reason for this: Frontman Willis explained that Trump had acquired a license for the song from the rights holder BMI. This would allow the Republican presidential candidate to continue using the song in his campaign appearances. Willis himself could do little about it. At the same time, he emphasized that he was supporting Trump’s competitor Kamala Harris in the current election campaign. She is welcome to use the song at her events, like last week in Washington.
