Donald Trump is responsible for The Apprentice, Trump Tower and winning an election - but one thing you might not know is that he claims credit for people saying 'Merry Christmas'.
The former US President has always been a massive fan of Christmas - and was a big advocate of celebrating the holiday proudly before taking office.
He claimed the Democrats were waging a "war on Christmas" during a rally in Georgia in December 2020, claiming his political opponents were trying to erase the holiday.
Trump told the crowd: "Let me begin by wishing you all a very merry Christmas. Remember the word?
"Remember? We started five years ago, and I said, 'You're gonna be saying 'Christmas' again.' We say it proudly again. Although they’ll be trying to take that word again out of the vocabulary."
That year, Trump made Christmas Eve a federal holiday because it fell on a Friday.
In a welcome surprise to workers, he signed an order which meant federal workers got a paid day off.
His order said: "All executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall be closed and their employees excused from duty on Thursday, December 24, 2020, the day before Christmas Day."
Former Presidents Barack Obama only gave a half-day when Christmas fell on a Friday in 2009 and 2015, while Bill Clinton did the same in 1998.
So it's clear that Trump loves the festive season, but he also alleges that he is responsible for two words which are constantly uttered at this time.
He believes people started saying "Merry Christmas" again because of his influence.
During an interview with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on a Newsman Christmas special last year, Trump claimed he brought back the common saying.
"America had [been] going into a long period where people quit saying ‘Merry Christmas," said Huckabee, referring to the period just before the 2016 presidential election.
"You deliberately changed that," Huckabee told Trump, who was in agreement, saying that America had started going 'woke'.
Trump stated: "It was embarrassing for stores to say 'Merry Christmas.' You'd see these big chains, they want your money but they don’t want to say 'Merry Christmas.' And they’d use reds and they’d use whites and snow but they wouldn't say 'Merry Christmas'.
"When I started campaigning, I said, 'You're going to say "Merry Christmas" again.' And now people are saying it," Trump continued.
"That was a big part of what I was doing, I would say it all the time during that period … I tell you, we brought it back very quickly."
According to Trump and Huckabee, the phrase "Merry Christmas" is "a part of American culture" and isn't meant to be exclusionary.
"America loves Christmas," the former president said. "Whether you’re Muslim, whether you’re Christian, whether you’re Jewish, everyone loves Christmas.
"And they'd say 'Merry Christmas' until these crazy people came along and they wanted to stop it along with everything else."
Trump was part of a pro-Merry Christmas crusade when he was in the White House - and many Republicans argued that removing holiday images from branding or saying "Happy holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas2 stores was anti-Christian.
"I love Christmas," Trump said in 2015 . "You go to stores now, and it doesn't say Christmas. It says 'Happy Holidays.' All over! I say, ‘Where’s Christmas?’ I tell my wife, 'Don't go to those stores.'
"I want to see Christmas! Other people can have their holidays, but Christmas is Christmas. I want to see ‘Merry Christmas.' Remember the expression 'Merry Christmas'? You don't see it. You’re going to see it if I'm elected."
That same year on Christmas Eve, Trump tweeted: "People are proud to be saying Merry Christmas again. I am proud to have led the charge against the assault of our cherished and beautiful phrase. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!"
Do you have a story to share? Email webfeatures@trinitymirror.com
