Christopher Columbus, director of the beloved “Home Alone” Christmas movie franchise, made waves recently after expressing that he wishes he could remove President Donald Trump’s cameo from “Home Alone 2.”
Released in Nov. 1992, “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” featured a scene where the main character, 10-year-old Kevin McCallister, walks into The Plaza hotel and asks the hotel owner and future president where the lobby is. 32 years later, Columbus wishes those seven seconds of screen time had never made the final cut.
“It’s become a curse,” Columbus told the San Francisco Chronicle. “It’s become this thing that I wish it was not there.”
Despite being born and raised in the United States, Columbus comes from a long line of Italian lineage, and the director believes that if he were to cut the cameo from the movie, he would be deported.
“I can’t cut it. If I cut it, I’ll probably be sent out of the country. I’ll be considered [sort of] not fit to live in the United States, so I’ll have to go back to Italy or something.”
According to Columbus, President Trump wasn’t originally supposed to be making an appearance in the film. Columbus claimed in a 2020 interview with Business Insider that Trump stated, “The only way you can use the plaza is if I’m in the movie.” However, after catching wind of the interview three years later, Trump took to Truth Social to fight back.
“I was very busy, and didn’t want to do it,” Trump’s post reads. “They were very nice, but above all, persistent. 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. … Now, however, 30 years later, Columbus … put out a statement that I bullied myself into the movie. Nothing could be further from the truth. … Just another Hollywood guy from the past looking for a quick fix of Trump publicity for himself!”
After seeing Trump’s rebuttal, Columbus told the San Francisco Chronicle that he originally wanted to cut the cameo from the movie entirely, and he now wishes he had. Columbus also claims that he never begged Trump to do anything, and that his Truth Social post was full of lies.
“What’s going through this guy’s mind? He said I was lying. I’m not lying. He said I begged him to be in the movie, but there’s no world I would ever beg a non-actor to be in a movie. But we were desperate to get the Plaza Hotel. But it’s there. It’s become an albatross for me. I just wish it was gone.”
