Trump touts 'beautiful and clean' coal to children while talking about their Christmas wishlists
Amid a phone-in on Christmas Eve alongside First Lady Melania Trump, the President was asking young ones about what they wanted for the holidays
Donald Trump has bizarrely touted coal as "beautiful and clean" while talking to children about what they want for Christmas.
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Amid a phone-in on Christmas Eve alongside First Lady Melania Trump, the President was asking young ones about what they wanted for the holidays.
While quizzing the kids from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, an eight-year-old from Kansas said "not coal" when asked about her wishlist.
In response, Trump replied “You mean clean, beautiful coal?”, repeating a campaign slogan from his first run for the presidency in 2016.
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“I had to do that, I’m sorry,” the president added, laughing.
“Coal is clean and beautiful. Please remember that, at all costs,” Mr Trump said. “But you don’t want clean, beautiful coal, right?”
“No,” the caller responded, saying she would prefer a Barbie doll, clothes and candy.
The President was fulfilling a tradition in which he talks to youngsters tracking Santa using the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).
In another nod at his political priorities, Trump also insisted that NORAD would "make sure that Santa is being good" and that the US was "not infiltrating into our country a bad Santa".
In a more playful response, he also took aim at Saint Nicholas's weight when asked about whether he would be mad if no one leaves cookies and milk out for him.
Speaking to a child from North Carolina, Mr Trump replied: “I think he’ll be very disappointed.”
He added: “You know, Santa’s... he tends to be a little bit on the cherubic side. You know what ‘cherubic’ means? A little on the heavy side. I think Santa would like some cookies.”
Keeping with his own personal holiday tradition, Mr Trump marked Christmas with a social media jibe at his political enemies.
Merry Christmas to all, including the Radical Left Scum that is doing everything possible to destroy our Country, but are failing badly. We no longer have Open Borders, Men in Women’s Sports, Transgender for Everyone, or Weak Law Enforcement. What we do have is a Record Stock…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 25, 2025
The President wrote: "Merry Christmas to all, including the Radical Left Scum that is doing everything possible to destroy our Country, but are failing badly.
"We no longer have Open Borders, Men in Women’s Sports, Transgender for Everyone, or Weak Law Enforcement. What we do have is a Record Stock Market and 401K’s, Lowest Crime numbers in decades, No Inflation, and yesterday, a 4.3 GDP, two points better than expected.
"Tariffs have given us Trillions of Dollars in Growth and Prosperity, and the strongest National Security we have ever had. We are respected again, perhaps like never before. God Bless America!!!"