Christmas is over, but Donald Trump is keeping his festive spirit alive by feuding with the director of a film he appeared in for seven seconds more than 30 years ago.
The former president released a Truth Social letter Wednesday attacking Chris Columbus, who directed the Christmas classics “Home Alone” (1990) and “Home Alone 2” (1992).
Trump made a brief appearance in the sequel during a scene at New York's Plaza Hotel, which he owned at the time.
In an interview with Business Insider in 2020, Columbus said that Trump would only allow the film to be shot at the hotel if he could appear in it, and that the future president essentially forced his way into the film.
This tidbit was shared online this week and apparently caught Trump's attention.
“30 years ago (how time flies!), director Chris Columbus and others begged me to do a cameo in Home Alone 2,” Trump wrote on his social media page. “They rented the Plaza Hotel in New York, which I owned at the time. I was very busy and didn't want to do it. They were very nice, but above all stubborn. I agreed and the rest is history!”
“That little cameo took off like a rocket and the film was a huge success and still is, especially at Christmas time,” he continued. “People call me whenever it airs.”
He claimed that Columbus' version of events was incorrect.
“If they felt bullied or didn’t want me, then why did they bring me in and keep me there for over 30 years?” Trump wrote. “Because I was and am great for the film, that’s why!”
Open Image ModalTrump's comment on his cameo in Home Alone 2.
Donald Trump/Truth Social
In the interview in 2020, Columbus said that in order to film the scene at the hotel in Manhattan, they approached the venue and offered to pay a fee.
“Trump said OK,” Columbus recalled. “We paid the fee, but he also said, 'The only way I can use the Plaza is when I'm in the movie.' So we agreed to put him in the film, and when we showed it for the first time, the strangest thing happened: people cheered when Trump appeared on the screen.”
“So I said to my editor, ‘Keep him in the film. “It’s a moment for the audience,” Columbus said. “But he bullied his way into the film.”
Trump has made many film and television appearances, including appearances on “Sex and the City” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” which were filmed years before he officially entered politics.
In 2017, Matt Damon told a Trump story that matched Columbus' anecdote.
“The deal was that if you wanted to film in one of his buildings, you had to write a part for him,” Damon said. “You waste a little time getting approval and then you can cut the scene. But I guess they left it in in Home Alone 2.”
Trump also addressed the 2019 Christmas appearance after it was not featured on a Canadian broadcast. (The network said it cut the scene for time reasons back in 2014, long before Trump became president.)
“The film will never be the same! (just kidding),” Trump tweeted at the time.
His son Donald Jr. reacted more dramatically, calling the omission “absolutely pathetic.”
You can see the cameo and Trump's only line of dialogue below:
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