Overview
- From Mar-a-Lago, President Trump and First Lady Melania joined the NORAD Santa tradition, taking children’s calls and allowing some conversations on speaker for reporters.
- He told callers the U.S. must guard against a “bad Santa” and praised “clean, beautiful coal,” while incorrectly saying he had won Pennsylvania three times.
- A separate call with U.S. service members was disrupted by an audio and video failure, after which aides ushered journalists out of the room.
- After the calls, Trump posted “Merry Christmas to all, including the Radical Left Scum” before sharing more than 100 posts on Truth Social amplifying partisan attacks, 2020-election falsehoods and anti-immigrant content.
- The following day he broadened his holiday message to target “sleazebags who loved Jeffrey Epstein” and added the warning, “Enjoy what may be your last Merry Christmas!”