“It’s Become an Albatross”: Home Alone 2 Director Regrets Donald Trump Cameo

Chris Columbus says Trump “bullied his way” into the 1992 sequel and now wishes he could erase the controversial cameo from the Christmas classic

Los Angeles, April 16: More than three decades after its release, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is back in the headlines—this time for its most controversial 7-second cameo. Director Chris Columbus has expressed regret over including Donald Trump in the 1992 holiday sequel, calling the brief scene a “curse” and an “albatross” he wishes he could erase.

Speaking to the San Francisco Chronicle, Columbus said,

“I just wish it was gone… I can’t cut it. If I do, I’ll probably be sent out of the country.”

The scene in question features Kevin McCallister (played by Macaulay Culkin) walking into the Plaza Hotel, which Trump owned at the time. Trump appears on screen for just a few seconds to point Kevin in the direction of the lobby.

According to Columbus, the cameo wasn’t exactly voluntary on the director’s part. He claimed in a 2020 Business Insider interview that Trump “bullied his way into the movie,” insisting on an on-screen appearance as a condition for allowing filming at the Plaza.

“We paid the location fee, but he said, ‘The only way you can use the Plaza is if I’m in the movie,’” Columbus explained.

While the audience initially cheered at Trump’s cameo during test screenings, the cultural perception shifted drastically after Trump entered politics. In 2020, fans even launched online petitions to digitally replace him with an older version of Culkin himself—an idea Culkin supported with a viral “Sold” response on X (formerly Twitter).

Trump, for his part, refuted the claims on Truth Social in 2023, stating:

“I was very busy and didn’t want to do it. They were very nice, but above all, persistent.”
He added, “That cameo helped make the movie a success… Now, 30 years later, Columbus says I bullied my way in. Just another Hollywood guy looking for a quick fix of Trump publicity.”

With debates still swirling around whether the cameo should be removed or preserved as a moment in time, Home Alone 2 remains a curious pop culture artifact—equal parts Christmas nostalgia and political lightning rod.