Home Alone 2 director Chris Columbus calls Donald Trump’s cameo a curse: ‘If I cut it, I’ll be sent out of US’

Director Chris Columbus has opened up about US President Donald Trump’s cameo role in his film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Calling it an “albatross” on the film, and even a ‘cruse’, he said he cannot remove it.

Chris Columbus wants to delete Donald Trump’s cameo from Home Alone 2

In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Columbus said, “It’s become this curse. It’s become this thing that I wish it was not there. It’s become an albatross for me. I just wish it was gone.”

“I can’t cut it,” he also said. “If I cut it, I’ll probably be sent out of the country. I’ll be considered sort of not fit to live in the United States, so I’ll have to go back to Italy or something," added the filmmaker.

Donald Trump in Home Alone 2

In Home Alone 2, Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) accidentally boards a flight to New York instead of Miami where his family heads for their Christmas vacation. Alone in the Big Apple, Kevin checks into the iconic Plaza Hotel, where he briefly encounters Donald Trump who was the then owner of the hotel. He asks Trump for directions.

Did Donald Trump bully Columbus

However, this is not the first time that the director shared his reservations about the US President in the film. Talking about it, Columbus told Business Insider in 2020 that Donald Trump had more or less “bullied his way into the movie.”

“We paid the fee, but he also said, ‘The only way you can use the Plaza is if I’m in the movie’,” the Home Alone 2 director said. “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.’”

Over the years, fans of the movie have called for Trump’s removal from the film.

Trump: Columbus begging me, I didn’t want to do it

However, Trump claimed on Truth Social in 2023 that Columbus was “begging” him to star in his film.

“I was very busy, and didn’t want to do it,” Trump wrote. 

“They were very nice, but above all, persistent. I agreed, and the rest is history! That little cameo took off like a rocket, and the movie was a big success, and still is, especially around Christmas time. People call me whenever it is aired. Now, however, 30 years later, Columbus (what was his real name?) put out a statement that I bullied myself into the movie. Nothing could be further from the truth. That cameo helped make the movie a success … Just another Hollywood guy from the past looking for a quick fix of Trump publicity for himself!”

A sequel to Home Alone (1990), Home Alone: Lost in New York featured Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard, Tim Curry, Brenda Fricker and Catherine O'Hara.