For the 30th anniversary of “Home Alone” in 2020, Chris Columbus revealed some behind-the-scenes stories to Business Insider. According to the director, the Donald Trump cameo in the sequel came about because the film was shot at The Plaza Hotel, then a Trump property. In the movie, Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) runs into Trump in the hotel and asks for directions.
“Trump said OK,” said Columbus, adding that the real estate mogul had one stipulation. “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. 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.”
For whatever reason, Trump waited three years to make his online retort. But the scene has been a subject of controversy for a few years. In 2019, Trump caught wind of the fact that a Canadian broadcast had edited out his cameo. Trump blamed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the “Home Alone” snub, claiming it had to do with geopolitical disputes. The broadcasting company, meanwhile, confirmed that the edits had been made in 2014 to save time. The cameo came up again in 2021 when, after the January 6 insurrection, someone suggested digitally replacing Trump with an adult Macaulay Culkin. The actor replied on X (formerly known as Twitter,) “Sold.”
