Overview
- President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump took roughly 20 minutes of NORAD Santa calls from Mar-a-Lago, with the president on speakerphone and the first lady on a handset.
- Trump told children the government was ensuring no “bad Santa” infiltrates the country and praised “clean, beautiful coal” after a caller said she didn’t want coal.
- Speaking to a Pennsylvania child, Trump claimed he won the state “three times,” a remark news outlets noted is false regarding the 2020 election.
- NORAD marked its 70th year with a web-based call center, Twilio and Amazon Connect routing, interpreter support, and expected nearly 400,000 calls handled by about 1,000 volunteers.
- The appearance bracketed Trump’s outreach to troops after he announced $1,776 ‘warrior dividends’ for service members, as social media posts criticized the political tone of some exchanges.