Donald Trump is remembering the circumstances surrounding his cameo in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York a little differently than director Chris Columbus, who claimed the former president “[bullied] his way into the movie.”
The scene from the 1992 Christmas flick finds Kevin McCallister, played by Macaulay Culkin, wandering around the Plaza Hotel when he asks Trump for directions to the lobby.
In 2020, Columbus, who directed both Home Alone films, told Business Insider that Trump, who owned the Plaza Hotel at the time, would only allow them to film at the location if he could make a cameo.
“We paid the fee, but he also said, ‘The only way you can use the Plaza is if I’m in the movie.’ So we agreed to put him in the movie, and when we screened it for the first time the oddest thing happened: People cheered when Trump showed up on-screen,” Columbus recalled. “So I said to my editor, ‘Leave him in the movie. It’s a moment for the audience.’ But he did bully his way into the movie.”
According to Trump, who addressed the rumors on Truth Social on Wednesday (Dec. 27), production was allegedly “begging [him] to make a cameo appearance,” per The Guardian.
“I was very busy, and didn’t want to do it. They were very nice, but above all, persistent,” he claimed. “I agreed, and the rest is history! That little cameo took off like a rocket and the movie was a big success, and still is, especially around Christmas time. People call me whenever it is aired.”
As for whether he bullied production into giving him a cameo, Trump claimed “nothing could be further from the truth,” adding that his appearance “helped made the movie a success.”
“If they felt bullied, or didn’t want me, why did they put me in, and keep me there, for over 30 years?” he wrote. “Because I was, and still am, great for the movie, that’s why! Just another Hollywood guy from the past looking for a quick fix of Trump publicity for himself!”
Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York are both streaming on Disney+.
