Donald Trump ‘to be sued’ for unauthorised YMCA use

Donald Trump has had a busy week, so the last thing he needs is to be sued by the Village People for his “massive and unauthorised” use of their song YMCA.

The president made a last-minute plea to voters as polls opened by tweeting a montage of himself awkwardly dancing to the 1978 disco anthem - his song of choice to close rallies.

The footage features a series of clips from across the country and shows him shaking his hips, punching his fists and pointing to the crowd.

He posted it under caption: “Vote! Vote! Vote!” and “POTUS knows how to close a show!”

Now Jonathan Belolo, son of the late musician and co-founder of the Village People Henri Belolo, criticised the US president for using the song in campaign videos.

Jonathan, who is also the president of Scorpio Music, said: “The beneficiaries of (band co-founders) Messrs Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo, like the company Scorpio Music, owner of the work, discovered with amazement this illicit appropriation, which is more for partisan and electoral purposes of Donald Trump, which they would never have accepted.”

The statement added: “This infringing use of the YMCA work will therefore be the subject of a complaint in the next few days, both in France and in the United States, against any initiator or accomplice of what constitutes outright theft of the property of others.

“As of now, they are banning anyone from disseminating the contentious video in question without their authorisation.”

Henri died last year at the age of 82.

The Village People’s lead singer, Victor Willis, recently told BBC World News America that he does not endorse Mr Trump - and has asked him to stop playing their music at his rallies.

“I don't endorse Trump, I've never endorsed Trump, nor has the Village People,” Willis said.

When an anchor asked Willis, who still dresses as a policeman,  what he thought about Mr Trump’s dancing, Willis laughed and said: “Donald Trump does what Donald Trump does. I’ve never seen him actually put his hands up and make the YMCA. He’s changed it to M-A-G-A or something.”