Trump Questions 7-Year-Old's Belief In Santa, Calling It 'Marginal'

Spreading joy and good cheer from the White House on Christmas Eve, President Donald Trump answered a call from a 7-year-old child and then questioned her belief in Santa Claus, calling it marginal for a kid her age.

As children phoned the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) on Monday looking for St. Nick, Trump dealt out the candid comment to young Collman Lloyd, The Associated Press reported .

Are you a still a believer in Santa? Because at 7, its marginal, right? the president said.

He then paused, giving a chuckle, and adding, Well, you just enjoy yourself.

Donald Trump, answering phone call from 7-year-old on Christmas Eve: \"Are you still a believer in Santa? Because at seven it's marginal, right?\" pic.twitter.com/VHexvFSbQ1

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Donald Trump, answering phone call from 7-year-old on Christmas Eve: "Are you still a believer in Santa? Because at seven it's marginal, right?" pic.twitter.com/VHexvFSbQ1
The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) December 25, 2018

Sitting alongside the commander in chief was first lady Melania Trump , who was also picking up the phone, telling one caller that Kriss Kringle was out in the Sahara but would make it to the callers home in time for Christmas Day, according to the AP.

With evident excitement, she later tweeted, Helping children across the country track #Santa is becoming one of my favorite traditions!

Helping children across the country track #Santa is becoming one of my favorite traditions! @Potus and I enjoyed working with @NORADSanta - #ChristmasEve pic.twitter.com/CYNkARbFaI

Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) December 25, 2018","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Melania Trump","author_url":"https://twitter.com/FLOTUS","cache_age":86400,"description":"Helping children across the country track #Santa is becoming one of my favorite traditions! @Potus and I enjoyed working with @NORADSanta - #ChristmasEve pic.twitter.com/CYNkARbFaI Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) December 25, 2018\n\n","provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Melania Trump on 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Helping children across the country track #Santa is becoming one of my favorite traditions! @Potus and I enjoyed working with @NORADSanta - #ChristmasEve pic.twitter.com/CYNkARbFaI
Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) December 25, 2018

Each year, NORAD tracks Santas travels around the world, offering updates on his whereabouts through U.S. military radar.

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Despite the federal government shutdown, which took effect Saturday at the stroke of midnight, the tracker remains up and running.

Asked by a reporter about whether there was any progress on getting the government back in action, Trump said there was nothing new, noting that we need border security.

Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled Lloyds name and misstated her gender. It has since been updated.