Trump Plays the Hits, Puts Halloween Candy on a Kid’s Head

Say what you will about Donald Trump, but the man knows how to give an audience what it wants. You won’t go to one of his rallies without hearing him say “Make America Great Again.” If he’s delivering a racist rant on foreign countries “emptying their mental institutions” into the U.S., you know he’s going to shout out the “late great Hannibal Lecter.” And if “Y.M.C.A.” plays in his presence, there’s a very good chance he’s going to break into a little dance.

So it’s no surprise that while handing out candy to children at the White House on Thursday, the president reenacted a Halloween meme from his first term by placing a candy bar on top of a kid’s head:

In similar fashion to the 2019 White House Halloween event, President Trump was seen placing candy on the head of a child in costume at Thursday night’s event. https://t.co/QU40fwBAIf pic.twitter.com/4Tp5CQSxnZ

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) October 31, 2025

As you can see in the longer video, the president also excitedly greeted children dressed as him as well as two kids who went as his beloved McDonald’s:

This time, the chocolate bar actually stayed on the child’s head as it was flat on top. Back in 2019, Trump tried to balance the candy on the puffy, rounded top of a Minion’s costume. Things did not go as planned, as my colleague Benjamin Hart explained:

The Minion was clearly carrying a candy bag, as one typically does when soliciting treats in a costume in late October. Yet Trump opted, for what appeared to be comedic reasons, to place a Hershey’s bar on the Minion’s head, grinning as he bounced it off the kid’s noggin a couple times first. First Lady Melania Trump, standing next to the president, followed suit.

As was inevitable, the candy quickly slid right off, prompting Trump to emit what appeared to be a genuine laugh, a rare sight indeed. The Minion appeared confused, remaining in place for a moment as if to say, “What the hell was that?” before shuffling off, the chocolate bars still on the ground. Trump did not appear to notice or care about the tragic situation unfolding in front of him, but thankfully an adult scooped up the candy and gave it to its rightful owner.

Trump is clearly playing all the holiday classics. So if you’re taking your first-grader to the White House this Christmas, be prepared for the president to ask if they still believe in Santa, “because at 7, it’s marginal, right?”