During a Christmas event on December 24, US President Donald Trump noted that it's time to get back to issues related to Russia, Ukraine, and China.
The US leader, staying at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, was answering questions from children who called the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) to inquire about Santa's whereabouts. After one such call, the US leader remarked: “I could do this all day. We have to get back to China, Russia, Ukraine. We have to get back to other issues. But I could do this all day.“ Trump did not specify which issues he was referring to. The broadcast was hosted by the White House.
The tradition of “tracking“ Santa Claus's holiday route began in the United States in 1955, when a retailer's advertisement misspelled the phone number that children were asked to call to express their gift wishes. It turned out to be the number of Colonel Harry Shupe, chief of operations for the Continental Air Defense Command (now NORAD). Unfazed, he began explaining to callers that the military was acting as Santa's air traffic controller, making sure he didn't get lost in the sky. Thus, the system for monitoring aircraft flights and missile launches began to “track“ the flight of America's Santa Claus.