Here’s filmmaker Chris Columbus expressing deep regret over a brief scene in “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” featuring Donald Trump, calling the former president’s cameo a burden he wishes he’d never agreed to include. The brief appearance — in which Trump gives Macaulay Culkin’s character directions in the hotel lobby — runs for just a few seconds, but Columbus is admonishing it.
In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Columbus described Trump’s appearance as a persistent source of discomfort. “It’s become this bizarre curse,” he said. “I wish I could take it out.”
Although Columbus was born in the United States, and resides in San Francisco, he half-kidded that removing the scene might get him exiled. “With how things are, I’d probably be deported back to Italy or something,” said the filmmaker, who is of Italian descent.
His comments come as Columbus is set to be honored at the 68th San Francisco International Film Festival on April 26. But the Trump cameo — a moment that has followed him for decades — resurfaced in public discourse in 2020 during Trump’s first term, and the issue remains unresolved.
Back then, Columbus told Business Insider that Trump’s involvement in the 1992 sequel was a condition for allowing the production to film inside the iconic Plaza Hotel, which Trump owned at the time. Trump, he claimed, essentially leveraged his property to insert himself into the film. “He bullied his way in,” Columbus recalled. “He told us the only way we could shoot there was if he had a role.”
In late 2023, not long before reclaiming the presidency, Trump took to Truth Social to claim Columbus’s account was false. He insisted that the film’s production team had “begged” him to make a cameo and argued that the moment added value to the movie.
Columbus chose not to respond publicly at the time. But in his latest interview, he dismissed Trump’s version of events. “I’m not making this up,” he said. “There’s no reality where I’d ask a non-actor to be in a scene like that. We just really needed to film at the Plaza, and this was the cost.”
Initially, Columbus did consider editing Trump out. But after a test screening in Chicago where the audience reacted enthusiastically to the cameo, he chose to keep it in. “I was stunned that people found it funny,” he said. “I never thought that little scene would become so iconic — or so regrettable.”
Over the years, the idea of digitally erasing Trump from the film has gained traction. In 2019, Canadian television aired a version of ‘Home Alone 2’ that omitted his appearance, sparking backlash from Trump supporters.
“I feel trapped,” Columbus admitted. “If I cut the scene, I could be labeled un-American or worse. It’s like I’m not allowed to touch it, even if I want to.”
Despite a career filled with major hits like Mrs. Doubtfire and the first two Harry Potter films, Columbus remains haunted by a decision that lasted just seconds on screen — but has stayed with him for decades.
