PoliticsDonald TrumpU.S. NewsHalloween

Trump Declares War On Halloween With Another Weird Christmas Rant

The president veers off on a Yuletide tangent... again.
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By 

Overnight Editor, HuffPost

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When will Americans get to say “trick or treat” again? 

With still two weeks left before Halloween and more than five weeks until Thanksgiving, Donald Trump abandoned both holidays and skipped ahead to Christmas. During a speech on taxes on Tuesday evening, the president took a holiday detour. 

With just 68 shopping days left until the big day, Trump said, “Let’s give our country the best Christmas present of all: massive tax cuts.” 

It wasn’t just a single, off-handed reference. He then launched into a Yuletide aside: 

“And speaking of Christmas... yes? You want to hear it? Speaking ― I’m just talking about Christmas presents, I’ll give you a bigger Christmas present, you’re going to be saying ‘Merry Christmas’ again, OK? You’re going to say ‘Merry Christmas.’

You know, you go to the stores, and they have the red walls and they have the snow and they even have the sleigh, and the whole thing. They don’t have ‘Merry Christmas.’ They don’t have ‘Merry Christmas.’ 

I want them to say: ‘Merry Christmas, everybody.’ Happy New Year, Happy holidays, but I want ‘Merry Christmas.’ We’re going to say it again. It’s happening already.”

If it’s “happening already,” it may be because Trump uses the phrase in just about every season. He mentioned saying “Merry Christmas” on Friday while speaking at an anti-LGBT event. He mentioned it on July 1 at an event ahead of Independence Day. Trump also made it a recurring talking point during the 2016 presidential campaign, vowing, “We’re going to be saying Merry Christmas again.” Trump even used the phrase multiple times during a Jan. 18, 2016 speech at Liberty University (a.k.a. the “Two Corinthians” speech). 

While the president has rarely mentioned Halloween, he’s had no problem capitalizing on it. Trump just released an orange, Halloween-themed version of his MAGA hat, with a jack-o-lantern on the front and the slogan “Make America Great Again” on the back. 

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Before You Go

Things You Probably Didn't Know About Christmas
The first recorded Christmas celebration wasn't until 336 A.D.(01 of07)
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For the first 300 years of Christianity, the church did not have a feast day set aside to celebrate Jesus's birth. It wasn't until 336 A.D. that December 25 first showed up in records as a holiday commemorating its founder's birthday, listed in a Roman almanac on Christian bishops and martyrs. (credit:Godong / robertharding via Getty Images)
It's unclear why we celebrate Christmas on December 25.(02 of07)
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Christmas celebrates the nativity story, but the Bible makes no reference to Jesus being born in December. If anything, scholars believe it's more likely Jesus was born sometime in the spring (Luke’s gospel suggests there were shepherds in the field on the first Christmas, which wouldn't have been likely in the dead of winter.) Some believe December 25 turned up as a Christian alternative to the Roman pagan celebrations of midwinter, which occurred in late December. Others think the day may have been derived from "a calculation based on an assumed date of crucifixion of April 6 coupled with the ancient belief that prophets died on the same day as their conception," according to Religion Facts. (credit:sot via Getty Images)
Some Orthodox churches celebrate Christmas in January.(03 of07)
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Some Orthodox churches, including the Russian and Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic Church, celebrate Christ's birth on January 6 and 7. These churches use the Julian calendar -- rather than the Gregorian calendar, which most of the rest of the world uses -- which accounts for the 13-day discrepancy between the two Christmas dates. (credit:Spencer Platt via Getty Images)
The Puritans despised Christmas.(04 of07)
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The American pilgrims followed in the footsteps of Oliver Cromwell, who took over England in 1645 and worked to ban Christmas in an effort to weed out decadent traditions. The pilgrims similarly looked down on Christmas as an indulgent British custom and outlawed it in some places. In England, Christmas once more became widely celebrated after the monarchy was reinstated in 1660. But it wasn’t declared a federal holiday in the U.S. until June 26, 1870. (credit:ZU_09 via Getty Images)
The Christmas tree tradition emerged in the 16th century.(05 of07)
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Roman pagans had long decorated their homes with evergreen boughs to represent the cycle of life that persists beyond the cold winter months. Whether that traditions carried over into early Christian homes is unclear. But by the 1500s, the evergreen tree had emerged as a symbol of Christmas in Latvia and Strasbourg, according to Christianity Today. Some sources also cite Germany as an original home to the Christmas tree. The tradition spread to the American colonies in the late 18th century with the arrival of European immigrants, but most Americans considered the decoration to be a pagan symbol until much later. (credit:RichVintage via Getty Images)
St. Francis invented the nativity scene centuries after Jesus's birth.(06 of07)
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St. Francis of Assisi is credited with staging the first nativity scene in 1223. According to a biography of the saint written in 1263, St. Francis set up a manger complete with hay and two live animals in a cave in the Italian village of Grecio. He then invited villagers to visit the installation as he preached about “the babe of Bethlehem.” Nativity scenes, or crèches, eventually spread throughout Europe and the rest of the world and can be found in many churches and homes around Christmastime. (credit:Richard Nebesky via Getty Images)
Writing "Xmas" is actually theologically sound.(07 of07)
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The Associated Press advises against using the abbreviation "Xmas" when writing about Christmas, but doing so is actually perfectly acceptable, theologically speaking. The Greek letter X, or Chi, is the first letter of "Christ" and served as a stand-in for Jesus's name dating back to at least 1100. In 1551, Christmas was known as "Xtemmas," and eventually it was shortened to "Xmas." (credit:amanaimagesRF via Getty Images)
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