The Dutch queen has been accused of mocking President Donald Trump to his face, after a viral clip appeared to show her imitating the president’s mouth mannerisms.
The video captures Trump, in town for the NATO summit, posing for photos with Queen Máxima and King Willem-Alexander after joining them for breakfast.
Trump had planned to stay in a luxury hotel, but the royal couple invited him to stay at Huis ten Bosch, their palace in the Hague.
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Trump can be seen flashing a thumbs-up and wide smile to the cameras, saying: “That’s the picture we want.”
The king asks Trump if he enjoyed his stay, to which the American president replies, “It was great. Thank you all very much.”
At that moment, the queen turns from Trump to the camera and appears to mimic the president’s thank you by holding her mouth open taut, pursing her lips, and flicking out her tongue several times.
Trump seemed not to notice.
Since the clip hit social media, many users have interpreted the bizarre moment as Máxima making fun of the American president.
“Queen Maxima mimicking Trump’s mouth movements really got me,” wrote the political commentary account Polling USA alongside the clip on X.
“Poor lady just got herself an entire Truth social post,” another X user joked.
On YouTube, a commenter wrote in Dutch, “Maxima imitating that Trump mouth,” with a laughing emoji.
“The Queen mocking that taco clown to his face is GOLDEN!” wrote another.
Some users leapt to Máxima’s defense, arguing that the moment had been misread.
One X user was convinced that the apparent mimicry was a reflex from Máxima’s diverse linguistic background.
“Máxima is Argentinian-Dutch and highly attuned to language and expression,” the user wrote. “Given her multilingual fluency (Spanish, Dutch, English), she’s known to pick up on linguistic quirks quickly, including accents and lip movements.”
Several others argued that Máxima had actually mouthed the Dutch word for “good” and was responding to Trump rather than imitating him.
The White House and the Dutch Royal House did not immediately return the Daily Beast’s requests for comment on the clip.
Máxima, 54, is originally from Argentina. She met Willem-Alexander, 58, when he was the nation’s crown prince in 1999. The couple married in 2002, becoming king and queen when Willem-Alexander’s mother Beatrix abdicated in 2013. They share three daughters.
Trump left the Netherlands on Wednesday after the NATO conference, where increased military spending and collective defense were the major topics.
