Trump jokes about ‘bad Santa,’ coal as he takes Christmas Eve calls with children

President Donald Trump marked Christmas Eve by chatting with children dialing into NORAD’s annual Santa-tracking hotline, mixing holiday cheer with trademark jokes and political barbs.

Speaking from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida alongside first lady Melania Trump, the president quizzed young callers about their Christmas wishes and what they were excited to receive. At one point, Trump joked about making sure Santa was “being good” and not a “bad Santa” who might “infiltrate” the country — a remark he did not elaborate on.

“We want to make sure that Santa is a very good person,” Trump told children aged 4 to 10 from Oklahoma. “We want to make sure that he’s not infiltrated.”

Trump, who has often used Christmas messages to criticize political opponents, returned to that theme shortly after the calls, posting online: “Merry Christmas to all, including the Radical Left Scum that is doing everything possible to destroy our Country, but are failing badly.”

During the calls, however, the president appeared lighthearted, saying he “could do this all day long” before joking that he needed to get back to serious matters such as efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

When an 8-year-old from North Carolina asked whether Santa would be upset if no cookies were left out, Trump replied that Santa would likely be “very disappointed,” adding a joke about Santa being “a little on the cherubic side” and fond of cookies.

The Trumps took about a dozen calls between them, sitting side by side. While waiting for his next call, Trump quipped that Melania was so focused on her conversation that she wasn’t listening to him at all.

One exchange drew laughter when an 8-year-old girl from Kansas said she hoped Santa wouldn’t bring her coal.

“You mean clean, beautiful coal?” Trump shot back, referencing a longtime campaign slogan. Laughing, he added, “I had to do that, I’m sorry.”

The girl replied that she’d rather have a Barbie doll, clothes and candy — to which Trump conceded with a grin.