You remember the rallies. Thousands of people in red hats, the air freezing outside, and Donald Trump standing behind a podium that almost always had a sign taped to it: Merry Christmas USA. It wasn't just a greeting. For Trump, it was a battle cry. He spent years telling anyone who would listen that the "radical left" had hijacked December, replacing Christ with "Happy Holidays" and giant snowflake decals.
But did he actually "bring it back"? Or was it just a very clever piece of branding that tapped into something people already felt?
Honestly, the whole "War on Christmas" thing didn't start with Trump. You can trace it back to the early 2000s with folks like Bill O'Reilly. But Trump was the first one to make it a central pillar of a presidential platform. He basically told voters, "If I’m president, you’re going to see Merry Christmas in the department stores again."
The Rhetoric vs. The Reality
When Trump took office in 2017, the shift was immediate—at least in the White House. Gone were the generic "Season’s Greetings" cards from the Obama era. The first official Trump Christmas card was blunt. It said "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year" in gold script. It was a signal to his base that the promised restoration had begun.
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Melania Trump’s decorations often became the focal point of this cultural push. Remember the "blood red" trees in 2018? Or the stark, white frozen forest look? While the internet argued over whether it looked like a horror movie or high fashion, the message from the administration remained consistent: we are celebrating Christmas, and we aren't apologizing for it.
What the data actually says
Kinda surprisingly, most Americans didn't actually care that much about the wording. A Pew Research study from 2017 found that about 52% of Americans said it didn't matter how stores greeted them. Only about 32% said they preferred "Merry Christmas." But for that 32%, it wasn't just about a phrase. It was about feeling like their culture was being erased by "woke" corporate policies.
Trump understood this. He turned a polite greeting into a symbol of defiance.
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The "Merry Christmas" Comeback in 2025 and 2026
Fast forward to the current landscape. Since returning to the White House for his second term, Trump has doubled down on the holiday's branding. Just this past December, the administration launched MerryChristmas.gov. It wasn't a joke—the site actually exists to highlight federal achievements through a "12 Days of Christmas" lens.
On Christmas Day 2025, Trump’s message on Truth Social was classic Trump. He wished a "Merry Christmas to all, including the Radical Left Scum" who he claimed were trying to destroy the country. It’s a wild mix. One minute he’s talking about the "miracle of Bethlehem," and the next he’s touting a 4.3% GDP and bashing his political rivals.
- The Website: MerryChristmas.gov was used to showcase things like the Works Progress Administration posters.
- The Socials: White House accounts now frequently use Christmas-themed memes to explain policy, like using "Polar Express" imagery to discuss border enforcement.
- The Events: The 2025 tree lighting ceremony was leaning heavily into the religious aspects of the holiday, more so than in his first term.
Did the "War" Ever Exist?
If you ask a historian, they’ll tell you that "Happy Holidays" was originally used as a way to include Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s all in one breath. It wasn't necessarily an "attack" on Christianity. However, in the 2010s, many big retailers did instruct employees to use more inclusive language to avoid offending Jewish, Muslim, or secular customers.
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Trump’s genius was framing this inclusion as an exclusion of the majority. By saying "We're saying Merry Christmas again," he created a victory out of something that was largely a matter of personal choice anyway. People never actually stopped saying it in their homes or churches. But they felt like they couldn't say it at the mall.
Why This Still Matters for 2026
We’re heading into another year where the cultural divide is wider than ever. The Trump administration has made it clear that Christmas isn't just a day on the calendar; it’s a tool for national identity. By tethering economic success—like those record stock markets he mentions in every post—to the "return" of Christmas, he’s made the holiday a metric of his own success.
If you’re looking at how this affects you, it’s mostly about the "vibe shift" in public discourse. You’ll see more "Merry Christmas" signs in government buildings and hear it more in official capacities.
Actionable Insights for Navigating the "New" Holiday Season
- Understand the Branding: When you see the phrase used in official government releases now, recognize it as a deliberate policy choice, not just a casual greeting. It's meant to signal a specific set of traditional values.
- Separate Policy from Holiday: You can enjoy the festivities while still looking critically at the data. For instance, the GDP growth and the holiday greeting are often bundled together in Truth Social posts, but they are obviously separate metrics of national health.
- Check the Source: With the rise of sites like MerryChristmas.gov, the government is getting more involved in "cultural" content. Always verify historical claims—like the history of the WPA—against non-partisan archives if you're using them for research.
- Watch the Courts: There are ongoing discussions about how far the government can go in promoting specific religious holiday greetings. Keep an eye on First Amendment cases that might arise from this renewed "Christmas-first" federal policy.
The "War on Christmas" might have been a marketing masterclass, but the effects on American discourse are very real. Whether you love the unapologetic festive spirit or find the political tie-in exhausting, Donald Trump Merry Christmas is now a permanent fixture of the American political lexicon. It’s less about the birth of a Savior and more about the identity of a movement.