The president and first lady found a festive way to keep busy at the White House during the government shutdown that kept them in Washington: They fielded kids’ calls to Santa Claus.
NORAD, the joint U.S.-Canada agency that monitors North American airspace, launches a Santa tracker each Christmas Eve to let curious kids around the world know when Santa Claus is headed their way. Volunteers help make it possible, according to NORAD — and this year the Trumps pitched in to help.
“Are you still a believer in Santa?” President Donald Trump asked one child over the phone, in a video clip that was shared by the Daily Beast. “Because at 7 it’s marginal, right?”
First Lady Melania Trump and the president each sat by a phone in the White House’s State Dining Room around 6:30 p.m. as journalists took photos and recorded video of them taking calls patched through from NORAD, the Hill reports. Flames flickered in the fireplace behind them beneath a painting of Abraham Lincoln. Next to the president was a large Christmas tree with wrapped presents tucked beneath it.
Digital Access For Only $0.99
For the most comprehensive local coverage, subscribe today.
#ReadLocal
Melania Trump told one child who called NORAD that Santa was “still far away” but was en route, NBC reports. She asked another child if he or she had been good that year.
Despite the ongoing government shutdown, which was triggered by a fight over border wall funding, NORAD’s Santa tracker is still up and running, the agency said Friday on Twitter.
“Military personnel who conduct NORAD Tracks Santa are supported by approximately 1,500 volunteers who make the program possible each and every year,” the agency explained.
Reuters reports that reporters asked Trump if any breakthroughs had been made in negotiations with Democrats.
“Nothing new,” Trump said, according to Reuters. “We need border security.”
Trump had planned to spend the holidays at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida resort, before the shutdown scuttled the trip.
Earlier in the day on Christmas Eve, Trump struck a less cheerful holiday tone on Twitter than he did during the calls with children.
“I am all alone (poor me) in the White House waiting for the Democrats to come back and make a deal on desperately needed Border Security,” he wrote.
Comments