On Christmas Eve, Trump questions child about belief in Santa

WASHINGTON DC, USA – Fielding a phone call from a 7-year-old on Monday, December 24, US President Donald Trump put himself on Santa Claus’ naughty list by raising doubts about his existence.

The call to American defense agency NORAD, which “tracks” Santa’s movements around the world, was one of several answered by Trump and his wife Melania as part of a Christmas Eve tradition.

It began innocuously enough: “Hello, is this Coleman? Merry Christmas. How are you? How old are you?”

But Trump then ventured into dangerous waters, asking: “Are you still a believer in Santa Claus? ‘Cuz at 7 it’s marginal, right?”

The president’s question was not well-received on social media.

“Belief in Santa should be preserved as long as possible. It’s the, or close to the, beginning of the end of innocence. For Mr Trump to be responsible for that is sad…but not surprising,” a Twitter user named Walt Corey wrote.

Derryl Murphy tweeted that “Trump doesn’t know how to say anything appropriate, to anyone,” while Sarah Walker wrote on Twitter: “This further proves that he is the grinch.” 

The 7-year-old girl, identified by Post and Courier as Collman Lloyd, said she was “shocked” to talk to Trump. Lloyd had “expected to hear a voice recording” because the US president “has a lot to do on the night of Christmas Eve.”

“I was like, ‘wow.’ I was shocked,” Lloyd said, as quoted by the news agency. “It wasn’t really (nerve-wracking), I just had to think of what the truth was.”

Post and Courier reported: “That night, Lloyd and her siblings left iced sugar cookies and chocolate milk out for Santa. The next morning, they were gone, and under the tree was a wrapped gift with Lloyd’s name on it: a brand new American Girl doll.”

The girl still believes Santa is real. – with reports from Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com