10 Small Movie Roles You Didn't Know Held Signifigance

Much to his chagrin, a lot of Donald Trump's charisma and likability comes from caricature. It's why, when put up against real-world crises like a pandemic, he is so ill-equipped. We wouldn't normally go to Biff Tannen looking for answers in times of great panic. Yet whenever someone portrays him as bombastic or self-aggrandizing, he takes it personally. After so many years as a reality star, one would think he'd have a sense of humour about himself.

That's what makes his appearance in Home Alone 2, a frivolous film whose writers even joked about copy/pasting the script, both jarring and telling. The President appears early in the film, when young Kevin McAllister first enters the Plaza Hotel and asks directions.

The internet has made a meal out of pointing out that Tim Curry's concierge is Home Alone 2's secret hero, and McAllister (future Jigsaw killer) is the antagonist, but Trump's appearance has only been mentioned as an aside. There was some controversy when it was falsely reported a Canadian network would edit him out of a broadcast, but it turned out it was done for commercials.

There are two things that should be learned from The Donald's Cameo: First, he insisted upon it, as he does for any film that wishes to shoot on his property. Second, it still stops the film dead, a wtf cameo that has no reason to be there but to placate an ego.