[ad_1]
President Donald Trump made the unthinkable by taking calls regarding Santa on Christmas Eve: he asked a young boy if Santa was real.
Interested in Donald Trump?
Add Donald Trump to stay up-to-date with the latest news, video and analysis from Donald Trump's ABC News channel.
Sitting in front of a burning fire pit In the White House clean room, the president asked Coleman, age 7, that he was "still a believer", perhaps forever shaking the faith of the young boy in Saint Nick.
"Hello, is it Coleman, Merry Christmas, how are you?" Trump asked. "Are you still a believer in Santa? Because at 7, it's marginal, right?" added the president with a chuckle.
The time has arrived while the President and the First Lady were responding to calls from children around the world who phoned NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which has been following for nearly years Santa's Christmas Eve trek around the world.
Trump may have been in a dark mood due to the current government shutdown and the recent liquidation of the stock markets, but he seemed cheerful in subsequent calls.
We heard him laugh, interview the children about their hometown, then thank a general for his services.
"What is Santa Claus going to to offer you for Christmas? "Who is with you?" He asked another young interlocutor. "Have a nice Christmas and I'll talk to you again, okay?"
First lady, Melania Trump, tweeted footage of the couple taking calls earlier, showing Trump happily smiling in a dark suit and red tie. She called the annual event one of her favorite traditions of the White House.
"Helping children from all over the country to follow #Santa is becoming one of my favorite traditions," she tweeted. "@Potus and I enjoyed working with @NORADSanta – #ChristmasEve"
NORAD has followed Santa's sleigh from the North Pole since 1955. The tradition began when a department store mistakenly placed the phone number of a NORAD officer in a Christmas advertisement .
Due to the closure, most government offices were closed, but NORAD said it would remain faithful to the long-standing tradition.
"If the government closes, NORAD will continue its 63-year tradition of NORAD Track's Santa Claus on December 24," NORAD tweeted last week. "The soldiers who lead Santa on the NORAD Trail are supported by about 1,500 volunteers who make the program possible every year."