WASHINGTON — President Trump mocked ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro Tuesday for trying “to imitate my dance” in public appearances before US troops snatched him in a daring weekend raid.
“He gets up there and he tries to imitate my dance a little bit, but he’s a violent guy,” Trump told an annual gathering of House Republicans at the rebranded Trump-Kennedy Center in Washington.
“He’s killed millions of people. He’s tortured — they have a torture chamber in the middle of Caracas that they’re closing up.”
The socialist strongman, now facing federal drug smuggling and weapons charges, publicly danced late last year to the beat of a song declaring “no crazy war” in English as Trump ratcheted up his threats.
In one widely circulated clip, Maduro, 63, wiggled his hips before bouncing up and down to the anti-intervention tune.
The New York Times reported Sunday that Trump administration officials took Maduro’s slick moves as a sign that the left-wing authoritarian was mocking Washington’s efforts to force him from power and trying to call what he believed to be a bluff.
Weeks earlier, the paper reported, Maduro had rejected an offer to step down from power and go into a self-imposed exile in Turkey.
The Post reported in early December that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had floated allowing Maduro to live out his days in oil-rich Qatar after Trump had insisted in late November that the Venezuelan surrender his leadership immediately.
With Maduro showing no signs of budging from Caracas, Trump signed off on what he called the “most incredible” mission early Saturday to capture the dictator and bring him to New York to face charges.
“It was so complex. 152 airplanes … We had a lot of boots on the ground, but it was amazing. And think of it, nobody was killed,” the president said.
“And on the other side, a lot of people were killed — unfortunately, I say that. Soldiers, Cubans, mostly Cubans, but many, many killed … and our guys were, you know, our guys are jumping out of helicopters.”
Here’s the latest on Nicolás Maduro’s capture:
Trump did not say whether he intends to ask the GOP conference for legislation retroactively approving of any military engagement — despite threatening to send US troops back to Caracas if interim leader Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro’s former vice president, fails to meet his demand of allowing expropriated US oil companies to regain lost assets.
The War Powers Resolution of 1973 says that Congress must authorize military actions lasting longer than 60 days, though courts have deferred to elected legislators to enforce alleged violations of that timeframe.
In contrast to Maduro’s manic dancing, Trump’s style is more restrained, featuring slow-paced fist thrusts to the beat of the Village People’s “YMCA.”
The president, 79, demonstrated his signature moves on stage after he ended his 85-minute speech to lawmakers.
Trump also revealed in his wide-ranging remarks that first lady Melania Trump disapproves of his rug-cutting, which has been widely emulated by supporters.
“She hates when I dance. I said, ‘Everybody wants me to dance, darling.’ ‘It’s not presidential,’” he quoted his wife as saying.
“She actually said, ‘Could you imagine FDR dancing?’ She said that to me … But she says, ‘Darling, please.’ And I have to say this, ‘The dancing they really like.’ She said, ‘They don’t like it. They’re just being nice to you.’ I said ‘That’s not right. The place goes crazy. They’re screaming, ‘Dance, please!’”
