Trump Committed A Criminal Offense in the World of ‘The Little Rascals’ (Sad!)

Donald Trump is obviously bad at a lot of things, like being President, keeping alleged sex scandal-related payoffs under wraps, or holding a glass of water like someone over the age of two. But we’d also like to take a moment to acknowledge his terrible, terrible acting career. Throughout the decades, Trump has popped up in random movies like Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, in which he seemed totally nonplussed that a small child was checking into his hotel unsupervised, and some ghost-based ‘80s sex comedy starring Bo Derek virtually no one remembers. 

Likely because Home Alone 2 was a hit, Trump was invited to cameo in the 1994 big-screen reboot of The Little Rascals – which he agreed to, presumably because he thought it would be chock-full of overt 1920s-era racism. 

Trump shows up briefly at the end, portraying the father of Waldo, the smarmy rich kid villain of the story, which … checks out. According to director Penelope Spheeris, Trump “fit perfectly as the father of the spoiled brat who had no connection to the rest of the world.” In his fleeting scene, Trump oddly comments that Waldo is the “best son money can buy.” Wait, what??

So presumably, Trump purchased Waldo somehow? The issue of “baby-selling” is a complex one, but as a 1995 article in the McGeorge Law Review noted: “Every state has a law against exchanging consideration for obtaining a child.” In other words, in the world of this movie, Trump is admitting to committing a serious crime. Perhaps Trump thought this odd narrative wrinkle was an homage to Citizen Kane, his self-described favorite movie (which he has clearly missed the point of entirely).

That being said, it remains unclear whether or not Trump is technically playing himself or not; his character has, as we learn early on, purchased an oil refinery (which the real Trump didn’t), and he is listed only as “Waldo’s Dad” in the credits. Still, the outfit, haircut, and demeanor make it clear that Trump is essentially playing the Donald Trump of the Little Rascals-verse. And for some reason, he didn’t catch on to the fact that being asked to portray the dad of a wealthy dick who continually bullies impoverished children wasn’t exactly a compliment.

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Top Image: Universal Pictures