It was the night before Christmas 6:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, to be exact and rich aromas of brisket and Brussels sprouts filled the kitchen of Collman Lloyds home in Lexington, S.C.
At this hour, Santa could have been in a chimney in the Middle East, or perhaps headed toward Africa or Eastern Europe in his sleigh.
Lloyd, 7, wanted to know precisely where the man in the red suit was and whether hed make his way over her South Carolina town. She contacted the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which has tracked Santas whereabouts for 63 years. A scientist answered the phone and asked Lloyd if she would like to speak with President Donald Trump.
If anyone knew where Santa was, could it be the president?
Lloyd sat in her kitchen on hold for about six minutes, she told The Post and Courier. There was no hold music, just silence. She expected to hear a voice recording when it picked up, if anything.
He has a lot to do on the night of Christmas Eve, she said.
Then came the New York accent.
Trump, who sat in the White House in Washington, D.C., was suddenly on speaker phone in Lloyds kitchen.
Are you still a believer in Santa? he asked.
Yes, sir, she said.
Then the president asked her a puzzling question:
Because at 7, thats marginal, right?
Lloyd had never heard that word before, marginal.
Yes, sir, she said.
She didnt know it, but his comment about her age being marginal and her response would spark national news stories that night and the following morning.
Luckily, the truth was that she did believe and still does. It turns out that Trumps line of questioning didnt cue Lloyd into the fact that Santa might not be real, because she didnt understand what the word marginal meant.
Lloyd never did learn Santas whereabouts, but she was glad to be able to talk with her nations leader.
I was like, wow. I was shocked, she said. It wasnt really (nerve-wracking), I just had to think of what the truth was.
After the president hung up the phone, Lloyd sat in her kitchen with her parents, her 10-year-old sister, her 5-year-old brother and a friend. She wondered about Trumps family, and what his Christmas Eve plans were.
If she ever had the chance to talk to the president again, Lloyd said, shed ask him about his family.
