The 1992 film ‘Home Alone 2: Lost in New York’ remains a holiday-favorite to this day. Now, one brief moment in the movie has sparked curiosity and online reactions: a cameo appearance by Donald Trump.
On social media platform X, people shared snaps of a scene. “Home Alone 2 star Donald J. Trump has been redacted from the movie,” wrote one user, a possible joke on the Epstein file releases. “Did you know Donald Trump has acted in a movie????” posted another.
The snaps shared are from a scene inside New York’s Plaza Hotel, which was owned by Trump at the time of filming. Details about how and why the cameo happened have been discussed in interviews and media coverage over the years.
So did Trump appear in the movie?
Yes. Donald Trump appears briefly in the film, during the Plaza Hotel scene. In the scene, 10-year-old Kevin McCallister, played by Macaulay Culkin, asks Trump for directions to the hotel lobby. Trump points him down the hall and to the left before Kevin walks away.
Director Chris Columbus has explained that the cameo was not initially planned.
According to interviews with the director, Trump requested to appear in the film when the crew arranged to shoot inside the Plaza Hotel, which he owned. Columbus told Business Insider in 2020 that Trump “did bully” his way into the movie, and the production agreed to the cameo in exchange for permission to film in the hotel.
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The scene was originally considered for removal, but after a test screening in Chicago, audiences reacted positively. Columbus said the crowd “cheered and cheered” during the moment, prompting him to keep it in the final cut.
Despite this, Columbus later described the cameo as “an albatross” and admitted he wishes “it was gone”, reported People in April 2025.
Trump’s side of the story
Trump has disputed claims that he forced the cameo.
In a 2023 post on Truth Social, he wrote that he was busy at the time and that the filmmakers were “persistent.”
He described the cameo as contributing to the movie’s success, adding that “that little cameo took off like a rocket.”
Has Trump acted in other movies?
Home Alone 2 is not Trump’s only appearance in a movie. His resume includes appearances in films and TV shows such as
- The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
- The Nanny
- All My Children
- Little Rascals,
- Ghosts Can’t Do It
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Aside from former President Ronald Reagan, Trump is one of the few US presidents with verified acting roles prior to taking office, reported Fox News.