President Trump Engages with Kids, Talks Santa and Coal on Christmas Eve
In a festive holiday tradition, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump spent Christmas Eve at their Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, taking calls from children eager to share their Christmas wish lists. The calls, part of a playful initiative where the North American Aerospace Defense Command tracks Santa’s journey around the world, saw the President assuring kids that Santa would not be swayed by any “bad Santa” influences.
“We want to make sure that Santa is being good. Santa’s a very good person,” Trump told young callers from Oklahoma, ages 4 and 10. “We want to make sure that he’s not infiltrated, that we’re not infiltrating into our country a bad Santa.”
Although he did not expand on what he meant by a “bad Santa,” Trump’s jovial mood was evident throughout the interactions. In past years, his Christmas messages often included pointed remarks about his political adversaries. This year, after the calls, he posted a message wishing a Merry Christmas to all, including those he referred to as the “Radical Left Scum.”
The President appeared to enjoy the light-hearted conversations with the children, remarking that he “could do this all day long” but noted he would soon have to return to more serious matters, such as efforts to address the ongoing conflict in Russia’s war with Ukraine.
In one memorable exchange, an 8-year-old from North Carolina inquired if Santa would be upset if no cookies were left out for him. Trump humorously responded, “But I think he’ll be very disappointed,” before joking about Santa’s figure. “Santa’s — he tends to be a little bit on the cherubic side. You know what cherubic means? A little on the heavy side,” he quipped. “I think Santa would like some cookies.”
Sitting alongside Melania Trump, the couple took about a dozen calls. At one point, Trump commented on Melania’s concentration while she was on her own call, jesting, “She’s able to focus totally, without listening.”
When an 8-year-old girl from Kansas expressed her hope that Santa wouldn’t bring her coal, Trump playfully responded, “You mean clean, beautiful coal?” He added, “I had to do that, I’m sorry,” sharing a laugh with the First Lady. “Coal is clean and beautiful. Please remember that, at all costs,” he told the caller, who preferred to receive a Barbie doll, clothes, and candy instead.
