Home Alone director Chris Columbus has shared his thoughts on Donald Trump’s cameo in the hit Christmas movie’s sequel.

In the early 1990s, Chris helmed both Home Alone and Home Alone 2, the latter featuring a cameo from the US president decades before he would ever venture into the political sphere.

Asked about the Trump cameo during a recent interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, the filmmaker shared his candid take on the scene – which certain broadcasters have been known to cut as the result of the former businessman’s conduct as president.

“It’s become this curse,” Chris admitted. “It’s become this thing that I wish it was not there.”

Referring to Trump’s past claims that he was “begged” to be in the movie (Chris himself alleged in 2020 that Trump “bullied” his way into the film), he continued: “There’s no world I would ever beg a non-actor to be in a movie. But we were desperate to get the Plaza Hotel [which Trump owned at that time, resulting in his cameo].

“But it’s there. It’s become an albatross for me. I just wish it was gone.”

Chris also quipped that if he were to re-release the film without Trump’s cameo, he fears he’d be “sent out of the country” or “considered sort of not fit to live in the United States”.

He told Insider five years ago that the “only way” to shoot sections of Home Alone 2 at the Plaza would be if Trump were allowed to film a cameo.

While he initially intended to cut this moment from the finished film, test audiences responded positively (remember, it was 1992 at the time) so it remained in place.

“But he did bully his way into the movie,” Chris claimed.

Unsurprisingly, Trump’s version of events differs somewhat, as he wrote on Truth Social in 2023: “I was very busy, and didn’t want to do it. 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 […] 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!”

Home Alone went on to inspire four more sequels between 1997 and 2021, though none of these had input from Chris Columbus, whose other works include Mrs Doubtfire, Stepmom and the first two Harry Potter movies.