President Donald Trump’s "embarrassing" and “demented” comments during North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD’s) annual Santa tracking call quickly sparked outrage online.
The U.S. president, joined by First Lady Melania Trump on Wednesday, December 24, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, spoke with children across the country about their Christmas wishes while warning them about a “bad Santa” infiltrating the nation.
Highlights
- Trump’s Christmas Eve NORAD Santa call sparked backlash after he warned children about a “bad Santa” and used politically charged language like “infiltrate.”
- Netizens slammed the remarks as inappropriate for a festive conversation meant for children.
- The controversy deepened as Trump also discussed elections, coal, and made “high-IQ” comments to young callers.
“Whoever thought that this was a good idea was wrong. He’s not safe around children even if it’s just over the phone,” one social media user reacted.
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump participated in the 70th annual tradition, fielding phone calls from children on Christmas Eve
Image credits: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
The historic event began on December 24, 1955, by accident, when a misprinted phone number in a Sears department store advertisement in Colorado Springs led callers to the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Operations Center instead of the intended “Santa hotline.”
The first call that year was answered by Air Force Colonel Harry Shoup, who playfully instructed his staff to check the radar for Santa’s location and provide updates to any subsequent young callers.
Image credits: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
When the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) was formed in 1958, it officially took over the Santa-tracking responsibilities from CONAD.
What started as a single accidental call has since grown into a massive volunteer operation, culminating this year with President Donald Trump and the First Lady Melania Trump speaking with children across the United States.
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The couple sat in gold-trimmed armchairs near a beautifully decorated Christmas tree during the nearly 21-minute-long event.
Several youngsters dialed into the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which playfully tracks Santa’s progress around the globe, as the President and First Lady fielded calls about what the children hoped to receive for Christmas.
“We want to make sure that [bad Santa’s]... are not infiltrating into our country,” the 79-year-old politician replied to children aged 4 to 10
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While speaking to two children from Oklahoma, reportedly aged four and ten, the kids asked, “How come Santa has a tracker on him?,” prompting a response from Trump that left many online stunned.
He responded, “We track Santa. We want to make sure that Santa is being good. We want to make sure that he's not infiltrated, that we're not infiltrating into our country a bad Santa.”
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Referencing the children’s home state, he added, “Santa loves Oklahoma like I do. You know, Oklahoma was very good to me in the election.”
Trump’s use of the word “infiltrating” was widely interpreted as a cryptic nod to his closed border policy implemented in January 2025, which aimed to "seal" the U.S. southern border, suspend asylum, implement mass deportations, and impose new restrictions on legal immigration.
The internet was not pleased with the exchange, criticizing Donald for using heavy language like “infiltrate” while speaking to young children.
One displeased netizen reacted, “He is not right in the head. I’m so weary of him embarrassing our country.”
Another commented, “Using the word "infiltrate" to a child when talking about Christmas is demented.”
The 47th U.S. president has often marked Christmas with controversy and politically charged remarks aimed at his opponents
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A third critic quipped, “He is definitely the friend you have to tell he’s on speaker when you answer the phone. ‘Hey, Mr. President! Gotcha on speaker, go ahead whatcha got sir?’”
“Pretty good chance this is the first time ‘infiltrate’ was used in a light-hearted Christmas Eve call to a child. So he’s got that going for him.”
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While speaking to another child who said she wanted a Kindle for Christmas, Trump replied, “That's pretty good. You must be a high-IQ person. We need more high-IQ people in the country.”
When an 8-year-old from Kansas said she did not want coal for Christmas, he playfully responded, “Not coal. No, you don’t want coal. You mean clean, beautiful coal. I had to do that, I’m sorry.”
“No, coal is clean and beautiful. Please remember that at all costs," he added. "But you don’t want clean, beautiful coal, right? What would you like?"
The girl said she would prefer a Barbie doll, clothes, and candy.
Some viewers also critiqued the way Trump took several calls on speakerphone while Melania sat beside him speaking on the phone herself, a detail many found unintentionally amusing.
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“Poor Melania lol he's on speaker phone... And yet she doesn't miss a beat,” one user wrote, while another added, “Don’t think they’ll understand Melania!”
Trump also discussed politics and elections with a child in Pennsylvania, telling him, “I’ll bet your mom voted properly”
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In another notable moment, during a phone call with a 5-year-old boy from Pennsylvania, Trump told the child, “Pennsylvania is great. We won Pennsylvania actually, three times, but we won Pennsylvania. We won it in a landslide.”
However, according to official election records, he won Pennsylvania in 2016 and 2024 but lost the state in the 2020 election to former President Joe Biden.
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He later added, “I’ll bet your mom voted properly.”
Just hours after the Christmas calls ended, the president took aim at his “radical left” political opponents in a scathing Truth Social post.
He wrote, “Merry Christmas to all, including the Radical Left Sc*m that is doing everything possible to destroy our Country, but are failing badly.”
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“We no longer have Open Borders, Men in Women’s Sports… Weak Law Enforcement… We are respected again, perhaps like never before.”
“He can't get anything normal right. Why is it so hard for him to just talk about Santa not elections, not infiltrators, just Christmas,” wrote one user
