‘Home Alone’ Star Recalls Running Up Insane Bar Bill After Donald Trump Offered To Pay Tab
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Daniel Stern truly became a “Wet Bandit” when Donald Trump was his co-star.
The actor reprised his role as one of the grubby thieves in “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” (1992), which was only granted permission to film at the renowned Plaza Hotel in exchange for a cameo from Trump — who acquired the iconic building a few years prior.
Stern recalled Trump making a giant mistake after closing that deal, however.
“Donald ended up doing a cameo, but his real contribution was letting us film there, lending the luster of the Plaza to the movie,” he wrote in a passage from his “Home and Alone” memoir obtained Monday by Page Six, adding Trump was apparently a “huge” fan of his.
Trump had already established himself as an unscrupulous real estate mogul, the de facto face of New York City’s nouveau riche, but despite teasing a presidential bid in the 1980s, had yet to enter the political fray when the “Home Alone 2” crew filled his hotel.
Stern described Trump as “a nothing personality” with empty conversation but said “the meeting paid off brilliantly” when he and his then-wife, the late Ivana Trump, strolled into the Oak Room “waving to the guests and wanting to have his picture taken.”
Now 66 years old, the actor recalled having a drink with several crew members at the time.
“Donald spotted us and proclaimed so everyone could hear that he would be picking up the tab at our table,” wrote Stern in his memoir, per Page Six, adding that the group raised their glasses in appreciation as Trump departed “feeling like the host-with-the-most.”
The group then cheekily bought “round after round of drinks for the entire bar” until 4 a.m., when there was “no more booze left.” While he admitted they still disagreed about the exact number, Stern claimed the tab came to “at least seven thousand dollars.”
He concluded, “We still feel really good about that.”
Director Chris Columbus told Business Insider in 2020 that Trump essentially “bullied” his way into the film, which sees him guide a lost Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) to the lobby. Trump later denied this and claimed Columbus was “begging” him to appear.
Trump acquired the Plaza for $390 million in 1988, according to the hotel website. “Home Alone” (1990) became a bona fide classic, launching Culkin into child stardom and spurring the New York sequel.
