The 7-year-old South Carolina girl who President Donald Trump almost made question her belief in Santa still made all the necessary preparations for a visit from the big man on Monday night.
Collman Lloyd was buzzing after her chat with the leader of the nation via the NORAD Santa Tracker but it didn’t stop her getting down to business and making sure the festive character had a snack to keep him going.
The child revealed she put out sugar cookies and chocolate milk that had vanished by Christmas morning, and her faith was kept alive after an American Girl doll appeared wrapped under the tree.
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Collman Lloyd, 7, still put out cookies and milk for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve despite her chat with President Trump
Despite public outrage after Trump, 72, posed a question that could upset any child, it seemed the youngster was just so keen to answer politely when he said ‘Are you still a believer in Santa?’ that she didn’t have time to digest the meaning.
‘I was like, “wow.” I was shocked,’ she said about her surprise phone call with Trump. she told The Post and Courier that she drowned out any doubtful voices regarding the magic of Christmas after the chat. ‘It wasn’t really (nerve-wracking), I just had to think of what the truth was.’
Trump seemingly tried to make himself feel better about the blunder by asking her to approve of his right to ask.
Lloyd received an American Girl doll under her Christmas tree when she woke December 25
Unlikely to make her feel better about the calling to find out where Santa was in the process of dropping off gifts, he added: ‘Because at seven it’s marginal, right?’
Luckily, Lloyd doesn’t use ‘marginal’ in her vocabulary so continued to answer politely with a ‘yes, sir’ while being none the wiser.
But with her 10-year-old sister, 5-year-old brother and a friend listening in on the call, hopefully it didn’t ruin December 25 for anyone else.
The phone call did get Lloyd thinking more about the president though. A big thought that crossed her mind in the aftermath of the flopped conversation seemed to be the extent of Trump’s experiencing talking to children.
‘Most people know this question. I would like to ask if he has any kids,’ Lloyd said. ‘I’ve honestly never heard of them or seen any of them so I was wondering.’
Trump appeared to try to keep things light as he sat beside his wife, Melania, in front of a roaring fireplace beneath a portrait of former President Abraham Lincoln. He had spent the day complaining about his decision to remain at the White House because of the partial government shutdown.
Despite a day of travel, Melania looked stunning in a dark blue, high-necked dress and deep red heels, ready to take calls.
Trump, who had been scheduled to leave for his Florida vacation home on Friday, had opted instead to stay at the White House during the shutdown so far, which occurred after he and top lawmakers failed to end an impasse over funding for his proposed wall along the border with Mexico.
Melania Trump flew back from Florida today to be with the president as they surprised children calling the NORAD Santa Tracker hotline
First lady Melania Trump joined the president and told a caller Santa was in the Sahara
Melania Trump (left) and President Trump (right) took calls from children tracking Santa this year from the White House
He has also used the time to tweet about people and subjects such as outgoing Defense Secretary James Mattis, who abruptly resigned last week following Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria; North Korea; the Fed; and Senate Foreign Relations chairman Bob Corker.
‘I am all alone (poor me) in the White House waiting for the Democrats to come back and make a deal on desperately needed Border Security,’ Trump tweeted on Monday.
Trump’s Republican Party holds majorities in both congressional chambers until January 3, when Democrats take control of the House of Representatives.
The first lady tweeted about her enjoyment of the tradition of talking to kids hoping to keep a track of Santa Claus
Asked by reporters if any progress had been made on government funding talks, President Trump said there was nothing to report
While on the previous Christmas Eve the Trumps took the phone calls in the living room of Mar-a-Lago, Melania cut short her time in Florida this year to be with her husband for the holiday tradition.
First lady Melania Trump joined the president and told a caller Santa was in the Sahara.
Several minutes later, she reported that Santa was far away in Morocco but would be at the caller’s home on Christmas morning.
‘Helping children across the country track #Santa is becoming one of my favorite traditions! @Potus and I enjoyed working with @NORADSanta – #ChristmasEve’ the first lady tweeted about the event.
But even Christmas could not keep out news about the shutdown. Asked by reporters if any progress had been made on government funding talks, Trump said there was nothing to report.
President Trump also spent most of Christmas Eve while waiting for the first lady to return watching Fox News and tweeting his demands for funding of a border wall.
Despite the stock market taking major hits lately, he also took time to tweet an attack on the Federal Reserve as the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 650 points on what was being described as the market’s worst Christmas Eve ever.
At one point Melania reported that Santa was far away in Morocco but would be at the caller’s home on Christmas morning
‘The only problem our economy has is the Fed. They don’t have a feel for the Market, they don’t understand necessary Trade Wars or Strong Dollars or even Democrat Shutdowns over Borders,’ he tweeted. ‘The Fed is like a powerful golfer who can’t score because he has no touch – he can’t putt!’
‘It’s Christmas Eve and President Trump is plunging the country into chaos,’ a joint statement from House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said. ‘The stock market is tanking and the president is waging a personal war on the Federal Reserve – after he just fired the Secretary of Defense.’
Every Christmas Eve, the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado, claims to track Santa Claus’ flight across the globe, a tradition dating to 1955, when a department store printed the phone number of a NORAD colonel in a Christmas newspaper ad by mistake.
This year, though, the NORAD calls came at a precarious time for the president, who is mired in crises, from a government shutdown that has affected a quarter of federal agencies and departments to a stock market selloff amid Trump’s public criticisms of the Federal Reserve.
The NORAD calls were the first time Trump has been seen in public since the shutdown began. NORAD said on Friday it would continue the tradition in the event of a shutdown, adding in a tweet that military personnel would be supported by 1,500 volunteers.
Trump’s unusual foray into discussing a kid’s belief in Santa is a departure from presidential interactions in the past, such as in 1961 when President John F. Kennedy dealing with Cold War politics reassured a worried Michelle Rochon of Michigan that he even spoke with Santa Claus to confirm he would be keeping to his appointed rounds.