Trump NORAD Santa Calls: Tradition and Cameo Controversy

There’s something oddly wholesome about a former president calling kids on Christmas Eve to talk about Santa—even when that same president once turned up as a hotel villain in a family movie. On December 24, 2025, Donald Trump took part in the NORAD Santa tracker calls from Mar-a-Lago, chatting with children about clean coal and high IQs.

Year NORAD Santa Tracker Began: 1955 ·
Volunteers on Christmas Eve: 1,000+ ·
Phone Number: 1-877-HI-NORAD ·
Trump’s First Participation as President: 2020 ·
2025 NORAD Calls Attendance: Yes

Five key facts, one takeaway: the NORAD Santa call is a bipartisan presidential ritual, but Trump’s cameo controversy injects a uniquely personal tension.

What happens when you call norad santa tracker?

What to expect during the call

Dialing 1-877-HI-NORAD on Christmas Eve connects you to live volunteers at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado. PBS News reported that more than 1,000 volunteers answered calls in 2025. Callers hear a recording with Santa’s current location and are patched through to a real person who offers updates. The service is free and runs from early morning on December 24 until about midnight.

How the NORAD hotline works

• NORAD uses a network of radar systems, satellites, and “Santa cams” to track Santa’s sleigh (BBC News).
• The website noradsanta.org provides a live map and countdown.
• Children can also track via the NORAD Tracks Santa app for iOS and Android.

The implication: a military agency that normally tracks ballistic missiles spends one day a year following a sleigh. For families, it’s an annual ritual that bridges technology and childhood wonder.

Where is Santa live?

Live Santa tracker map and stream

On Christmas Eve, NORAD’s website displays a real-time map showing Santa’s position, next stop, and number of gifts delivered. The tracker also streams live video via the “Santa Cam” network. CNN confirmed the tracker was active as Trump took calls. The system updates every few minutes and covers Santa’s route from the South Pole westward.

NORAD’s role in tracking Santa

• The tradition began in 1955 when a Sears ad listing a phone number for Santa misprinted the number, directing calls to the Continental Air Defense Command (BBC News).
• NORAD assumed the mission in 1958 and has run it every year since.
• Radar and satellite technology originally built for national defense repurposed for Santa tracking.

The pattern: a Cold War error became a beloved holiday institution. Seventy years later, the call center still fields millions of inquiries.

Did Chris Columbus regret Trump’s cameo in Home Alone 2?

Chris Columbus’s statement on Trump’s cameo

Director Chris Columbus told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2025 that Trump’s seven-second appearance in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York had “become this curse.” He said he intended to cut the cameo after early test screenings, but audiences cheered when Trump appeared, so the studio kept it. Columbus added that, given Trump’s later political career, he would remove it if he could.

Macaulay Culkin’s position

Macaulay Culkin, who played Kevin McCallister, has publicly supported removing the cameo. In several interviews, Culkin said he had “no problem” with editing the scene out of future airings. CBC News reported that the Canadian broadcaster already trimmed the scene (along with several minutes of other content) when it acquired the film for TV in 2014 — a move CBC said was not politically motivated.

Royalties and future edits

• Trump has denied that he bullied his way into the cameo. BBC News quoted him in 2023: “The rest is history.”
• It is unclear whether Trump still receives residuals from Home Alone 2.
• No official announcement has been made about editing the cameo from streaming or future DVD releases.

The catch: a brief joke cameo in a 1992 family comedy now sits at the intersection of pop culture and political discourse. The scene remains in wide circulation even as its two main creatives wish it weren’t there.

Timeline: NORAD Santa tracker and Home Alone 2 cameo

• 1955: NORAD begins tracking Santa after a misprinted Sears ad (BBC News).
• 1992: Home Alone 2: Lost in New York released; Trump appears in a brief cameo (CNN).
• 2020: Trump takes NORAD Santa calls as president for the first time.
• 2024 (December): Chris Columbus and Macaulay Culkin publicly express desire to remove Trump’s cameo.
• December 24, 2025: Trump participates in NORAD Santa calls again; video published on WhiteHouse.gov (YouTube).

What’s confirmed and what’s unclear

“We need more high IQ people in the country.”

— President Donald Trump, speaking to a child caller on the NORAD hotline, December 24, 2025 (NBC News)

“It’s become this curse.”

— Chris Columbus, director of Home Alone 2, on Trump’s cameo (San Francisco Chronicle)

“I have no problem with the scene being edited out.”

— Macaulay Culkin, actor, on Trump’s cameo in Home Alone 2 (as reported by CBC News)

For the Trump White House, the 2025 NORAD call was a soft-focus holiday moment that generated free positive coverage. For critics and fans of Home Alone 2, the cameo remains a lingering artifact — one that director and star have both said they would erase. The tension between these two portraits — Santa-call conductor and Christmas movie villain — is unlikely to resolve in a single news cycle. What’s clear is that Trump’s relationship with the holiday season now includes both a military tradition and a movie cameo that won’t go away.

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