On Christmas Eve, President Donald Trump joined the first lady at Mar-a-Lago to take part in the NORAD Santa tracking program, engaging with young callers about the festive season.
The president fielded inquiries from children across the country, discussing Christmas lists and Santa's global route. When a 10-year-old from Oklahoma asked how NORAD monitors St. Nick, Trump explained, "We track Santa all over the world. We want to make sure that Santa is being good."
He added, "We want to make sure that he's not infiltrated, that we're not infiltrating into our country a bad Santa. So we found out that Santa is good."
A 4-year-old girl requested a dollhouse, to which the president responded, "I think we can work that out," telling her mother, "We owe a lot to Santa, so I think Santa will fulfill your wish."
As NORAD showed Santa over Sweden, an 8-year-old from Kansas inquired about his arrival time. Trump predicted, "make it in record time, probably in about 5 hours." When she expressed concern about receiving coal, he quipped, "You mean clean, beautiful coal?"
Other children asked for a Kindle reader and a pinball machine. Regarding the pinball request, Trump referenced Elton John's "Pinball Wizard," saying, "We'll have to send you a copy of 'Pinball Wizard.'" To the Kindle request, he remarked, "Oh wow, that's pretty good. You must be a high-IQ person. We need more high-IQ people in the country."
An 8-year-old from North Carolina questioned whether Santa would be upset if she didn't leave out milk and cookies. Trump advised, "I would leave them. I think Santa has a serious appetite," adding, "He won't get mad, but I think he'll be very disappointed. Santa's — he tends to be a little bit on the cherubic side. You know what cherubic means? A little on the heavy side. I think Santa would like some cookies."
NORAD has conducted this Santa tracking tradition since 1955, with recent presidents participating in calls. In 2018, Trump asked a 7-year-old if she still believed in Santa, joking, "Because at 7, that's marginal, right?"
During this year's event, Trump spent approximately 20 minutes on calls with families, followed by conversations with military service members on duty. He later posted a Christmas Eve message on Truth Social with a different tone, criticizing political opponents and mentioning strong GDP numbers, though he noted during the calls, "I don't think the kids are too interested in that."
