Who ya gonna believe, Trump or pretty much anyone else?

Donald Trump has angrily denied claims by the director of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York that he bullied his way into a now famous cameo. The former president made a brief appearance in the 1992 film in a scene filmed at the Plaza Hotel, which he owned at the time.

Director Chris Columbus said Mr Trump insisted on appearing in the film if they used the hotel as a location. But Mr Trump said the filmmakers were “begging” him to appear.

“I was very busy, and didn’t want to do it. They were very nice, but above all, persistent,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday.

Tsss. Of course he wanted to do it. He’s always loved attention. A spot in a movie? A movie that was a sequel to a huge success? Of course he wasn’t too busy to do it.

The initial comments from Mr Columbus were made in a 2020 interview with Business Insider, although they received renewed attention on social media over Christmas. The director said Mr Trump sought a cameo appearance in addition to the customary fee to film in the hotel.

“We paid the fee, but he also said ‘the only way you can use the Plaza is if I’m in the movie’,” Mr Columbus said. “So we agreed to put him in the movie.”

Trump has been a publicity hound his whole adult life.