President Donald Trump made an appearance in the “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” movie, and now the director is speaking out about the cameo.
In the scene, actor Macaulay Culkin who plays Kevin McCallister, is seen walking through The Plaza Hotel in New York City, where he bumps into Trump and asks for directions to the lobby. “Down the hall and to the left,” Trump says.
Film director Chris Columbus spoke about the cameo during a recent interview with Insider.
Columbus explained that “like most locations in New York City, you just pay a fee and you are allowed to shoot in that location.”
He continued to explain, “We approached The Plaza Hotel, which Trump owned at the time because we wanted to shoot in the lobby. We couldn’t rebuild The Plaza on a soundstage.”
“Trump said OK. We paid the fee, but he also said, ‘The only way you can use the Plaza is if I’m in the movie,'” the film director added.
“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.”
See the scene below:
If anyone is looking for the Home Alone 2 cameo from @realDonaldTrump that was edited out by @CBC, here it is in all its glory. 😱🎄🎁 pic.twitter.com/pzaEpxS7ws
— Steven Cheung (@TheStevenCheung) December 26, 2019
In December of 2019, it was reported that the CBC network, a Canadian television channel, cut the scene with Trump’s cameo during the broadcasts of the movie. According to CBC News, a cut of eight minutes total to the film was made in 2014 for commercial reasons.
Trump, however, responded at the time, tweeting, “I guess [Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau] doesn’t much like my making him pay up on NATO or Trade!” He added in another tweet, “The movie will never be the same! (just kidding).”
CBC spokesperson Chuck Thompson defended the cut, previously saying in a statement, “As is often the case with feature films adapted for television, Home Alone 2 was edited for time.”
Thompson added, “The scene with Donald Trump was one of several that were cut from the movie as none of them were integral to the plot. These edits were done in 2014, when we first acquired the film and before Mr. Trump was elected president.”