Why Christian Pulisic may have landed himself in hot water with Donald Trump celebration

Christian Pulisic
Christian Pulisic chose to emulate Donald Trump after scoring for the USMNT against Jamaica on Monday (Image credit: Getty Images)

Christian Pulisic has landed himself in hot water after choosing to emulate US President-elect Donald Trump.

Pulisic - who scored the opening goal in the USMNT's 4-2 win over Jamaica this week - copied the dance moves coined by Trump during his successful presidential election campaign that will soon see him re-elected at the White House.

But the former Chelsea star has drawn huge critics alongside fellow US team-mates, with FourFourTwo detailing why the 26-year-old could now be in a spot of bother...

Christian Pulisic paid tribute to Donald Trump

Donald Trump beat Kamala Harris by a whopping 2 million votes

Donald Trump beat Kamala Harris by a whopping 2 million votes

After netting the USMNT's opening goal in their victory, Pulisic ran towards the corner flag to copy the dance moves seen by Trump throughout his US election campaign.

Usually seen dancing to Village People’s YMCA, the AC Milan winger was joined by Weston McKennie and Ricardo Pepi who also quickly joined in. Following the full-time whistle, Pulisic explained why he chose to copy Trump's famous dance and insisted there was no underlying political message.

What did Pulisic say on the matter?

MILAN, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 17: Christian Pulisic of AC Milan during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD1 match between AC Milan and Liverpool FC at Stadio San Siro on September 17, 2024 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Chris Ricco/Getty Images) Manchester United and Liverpool keen on former Chelsea man

Christian Pulisic has been a success at AC Milan since his move from Chelsea (Image credit: Getty Images)

“Well, obviously that’s the Trump dance,” Pulisic said. “It was just a dance that everyone’s doing. He’s the one who created it. I just thought it was funny.

“It’s not a political dance. It was just for fun. I saw a bunch of people do it and I thought it was funny, so I enjoyed it. I hope some people did, at least.”

Pulisic has not spoken publicly about his specific political views and has never publicly expressed his support for Trump or any other candidate for that matter.

Therefore, there remains some mystery as to why he chose to do so. Trump did claim the state of Pennsylvania, however, where Pulisic was born and raised.

Should Pulisic be worried about the backlash?

It goes without saying that Trump's presidential success has been marred with controversy given his views on abortion, immigration and same-sex marriage laws.

An assassination attempt was also made against the 78-year-old earlier this year, proving he still has critics, to say the very least.

The USSF has not responded publicly to Pulisic’s celebration, though it cut the dance from the clips of his goal shared on its social media channels.

Matthew Holt

Matthew is a Freelance Journalist and has racked up bylines for Manchester United, Manchester Evening News, GOAL and SPORTbible to name a few. A long-term sufferer of Scunthorpe United, he currently resides in the north-west after escaping the smog of North Lincolnshire.