The 2026 World Cup is already shaping up to be a historic event, even though games aren’t scheduled to start for months.
The tournament, which features 48 teams instead of the customary 32, is expected to captivate fans next summer. Stars will dance along the pitch, waltzing past opponents with feints, twirls and two-steps.
They won’t be the only ones dancing. The buildup to the 2026 World Cup kicks off in earnest on Dec. 5 with the competition’s draw. The festivities will be soundtracked by the Village People, a band whose most famous song holds special significance for former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Here’s what you need to know about Trump’s enthusiastic approval of “Y.M.C.A.”
2026 WORLD CUP HQ: Latest World Cup news | Full World Cup schedule | Buy World Cup tickets
Donald Trump YMCA song
Trump has embraced one of the 1970s' most famous tunes in recent years. Since 2020, the 78-year-old's public appearances have been backed by a familiar chorus: "It's fun to stay at the YMCA."
The iconic line comes from an equally iconic tune. "Y.M.C.A." Is a single released by Village People in 1978. At first glance, the song extolls the values of the Young Men's Christian Association, a worldwide youth organization with chapters all across the world. In 1970s, the YMCA's single room occupancy facilities represented a godsend for at-risk youth fleeing precarious living situations.
The community that surrounded the Village People helped the song to become a gay anthem that pays homage to the YMCA's role as a place for young gay men to meet.
Here's what Furious Cinema's Josiah Howard wrote for the Library of Congress regarding the target audience of Village People's work:
The songs targeted a niche record buying audience: gay discotheques and their patrons. The titles were self-explanatory: “Fire Island” (the East Coast’s gay summer retreat); “San Francisco (You’ve Got Me)” (the West coast’s premier gay destination); “Village People” (a look at the inhabitants of New York City’s largely gay Greenwich Village); and “In Hollywood (Everybody is a Star),” the promise of artistic accomplishment in the word’s entertainment capital.
MORE WORLD CUP NEWS:
- Who will win the World Cup in 2026?
- Updated FIFA World Rankings
- How World Cup qualifying works
- Explaining the expanded World Cup bracket
- Full list of teams to qualify for 2026 World Cup
Why does Trump love the YMCA song?
"Y.M.C.A." Isn't the first song Trump and his administration has showered itself in. Bruce Springsteen, John Fogerty and the late Tom Petty were embraced during's Trump's first term.
Those artists and their estates called on Trump officials to cease using their songs, with Springsteen openly endorsing Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election. Fogerty and Petty's estate sent cease-and-desist letters to Trump's staff after he used "Fortunate Son" and "I Won't Back Down" during his 2020 campaign.
MORE: Which countries can still qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup?
Victor Willis, the openly heterosexual frontman for Village People, also denounced Trump's use of the group's most famous track in 2020. He has since backed down on his criticism, instead expressing delight over Trump's fondness for the tune.
It's unclear why Trump enjoys the track. "Y.M.C.A." Is certainly a popular song — it sold more than 12 million copies and is regarded as one of the most famous tracks in pop history. Willis has routinely denied claims that the song is about gay life. The original composition of Village People included multiple gay people, including its producer.
MORE: How much are tickets for the 2026 World Cup?
As SF Gate's Astrid Kane noted in 2020, Trump was 32 and newly married to ex-wife Ivana when the song first flooded the airwaves. He was rich, living in Manhattan, a world away from the gay neighborhoods that lined Greenwich Village's thoroughfares. Trump was a landlord. Many of those who embraced the song and all its contours were tenants.
A staple in stadiums across the world, it's easy to see how "Y.M.C.A's" history has been defanged. In that vacuum, the song is merely a catchy tune. That said, Trump acknowledged the significance of the song to gay people in 2022.
"They call it the gay national anthem," Trump said, per New York Magazine. "'Y.M.C.A.' Gets people up and it gets them moving."
MORE: Explaining the FIFA Peace Prize rumored to be set to be awarded to Donald Trump
Donald Trump YMCA dance compilation
When "Y.M.C.A." Comes on, Trump seems to perk up. He's all limbs and bones, flailing his arms back-and-forth in a metronome-like routine. His gyrates his hips as if commanded to do so under threat.
The dance has taken many in the West by storm. Here's a compilation of the many times he has pulled off the move in his political career.
Who sings the YMCA song?
"Y.M.C.A." Is sang by the Village People. Frontman Victor Willis delivers the famous refrain. While the group was largely shaped by the gay community which surrounded it in Greenwich Village, Willis is heterosexual. He has repeatedly denied that the song is about gay hookup culture, penning a lengthy Facebook post to endorse Trump's use of the anthem in 2024:
There’s been a lot of talk, especially of late, that Y.M.C.A. Is somehow a gay anthem. As I’ve said numerous times in the past, that is a false assumption based on the fact that my writing partner was gay, and some (not all) of Village People were gay, and that the first Village People album was totally about gay life.
This assumption is also based on the fact that the YMCA was apparently being used as some sort of gay hangout and since one of the writers was gay and some of the Village People are gay, the song must be a message to gay people. To that I say once again, get your minds out of the gutter. It is not.
Sadly, when the President Elect started using the song, people attempting to brand the song as a gay anthem reached a fever pitch as many used it to say, oh, Trump don’t know the song is a gay anthem? This was done in a manner to attempt to shame the President Elect’s use of the song.
As I stated on numerous occasions, I knew nothing about the Y being a hang out for gays when I wrote the lyrics to Y.M.C.A. And Jacques Morali (who was gay) never once stated such to me. In fact, Jacques never once told me how to write my lyrics otherwise I would have said to him, you don’t need me, why don’t you simply write the lyrics.
I therefore wrote Y.M.C.A. About the things I knew about the Y in the urban areas of San Francisco such as swimming, basketball, track, and cheap food and cheap rooms. And when I say, “hang out with all the boys” that is simply 1970s black slang for black guys hanging-out together for sports, gambling or whatever. There’s nothing gay about that.
Village People performing at World Cup draw
The Village People captured headlines once more when news broke that they would be performing at the 2026 World Cup draw in Washington DC.
MORE: Everything to know about Group A in 2026 World Cup draw
The spectacle, allegedly hosted at the Kennedy Center free of charge, is expected to feature a Trump appearance. He is close friends with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, with Infantino hinting that Trump could land FIFA's inaugural Peace Prize, given to "individuals who have taken exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace," according to FIFA's website.