Trump adds ‘clean coal’ into holiday mix in Christmas Eve call with kids

President Donald Trump injected a bit of politics into this year’s Christmas Eve phone calls with kids across the country, touching on topics like energy production and the 2020 election.

Responding to calls as part of the U.S. military’s annual NORAD Tracks Santa event, Trump asked one person what they wanted for Christmas.

“Not coal,” replied the caller, an 8-year-old girl.

Trump jokingly corrected her, saying, “You mean clean, beautiful coal. »

“Sorry, I had to do that. I’m sorry,” he added. “No, coal is clean and beautiful. Remember that at all costs. But you don’t want clean and beautiful coal, do you? What would you want?”

Trump has long presented himself as an ally of the coal industry. In April, he signed an executive order aimed at strengthening the U.S. coal industry by easing regulations on mining, leasing and exports of what is considered the dirtiest fossil fuel.

And, twisting the old adage that Santa watches children to see if they are naughty or nice, Trump told a caller in Oklahoma that the U.S. government is watching Santa. NORAD – the North American Aerospace Defense Command, a joint US-Canadian operation – has been tracking Santa every year since the 1950s.

“We follow Santa all over the world. We want to make sure Santa is nice,” Trump said. “We want to make sure that he’s not infiltrated, that we’re not infiltrating a bad Santa into our country.”

“Santa loves Oklahoma like I do,” he added. “You know, Oklahoma was very good to me in the election. So I love Oklahoma. Don’t ever leave Oklahoma, okay?”

Speaking to a child in Pennsylvania, Trump returned to the 2020 election by falsely claiming he defeated former President Joe Biden there.

“I know Pennsylvania is great. We won Pennsylvania, actually, three times,” Trump said, later adding, “I bet your mother voted correctly.”

Trump kept the conversation holiday-focused and politics-free with some interlocutors, without repeating his 2018 remarks when he asked a 7-year-old girl if she “still believed” in Santa Claus, saying that at her age, “it’s fringe, right?”

After an 8-year-old girl from North Carolina asked Trump on Wednesday if Santa would get mad “if we don’t leave him cookies,” he replied, “I don’t think he’ll get mad, but I think he’ll be very disappointed.” »

“You know Santa, he tends to be a little cherubic. You know what ‘cherubic’ means? A little heavy,” Trump said. “I think Santa would like some cookies.”

After the event, which was followed by calls with U.S. military personnel, Trump returned the focus to politics in a holiday message he delivered on Truth Social.

“Merry Christmas to everyone, including the radical left scum who are doing everything they can to destroy our country, but failing sorely,” he wrote before highlighting a list of accomplishments from his first term, some exaggerated. “We are respected again, perhaps like never before. God bless America!!!”