Rerun

timed coverage

The annual "War on Christmas" coverage

You're probably here because of the Dec 2025 rerun. This is the 9th time since 2016 (archive start) this story has run. The previous rerun was Dec 2024.

About this story

"War on Christmas" coverage is a December claim, made every year by some commentators and politicians, that "Happy Holidays," secular store and coffee-cup designs, or public policies are pushing Christmas out of American life. Supporters present it as defending the holiday; critics and fact-checkers say the record shows no real decline. Donald Trump made "saying Merry Christmas again" a campaign promise in 2016 and repeated it as president. A December 2024 YouGov poll found that the share of Americans who agree there is a war on Christmas fell from 39% in 2022 to 23%. The pattern predates 2016: Media Matters says Fox's O'Reilly Factor began a recurring "Christmas Under Siege" segment in December 2004 and attributes an early online "War Against Christmas" piece to VDare in 2000; Fox notes the 2015 backlash over Starbucks' plain red cups; Snopes calls it part of a century-old debate.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

20162026

Dec 2025 "We're saying MERRY CHRISTMAS again!": White House greetings and the Washington Post dispute

On Dec 1, 2025, the White House posted "We're saying MERRY CHRISTMAS again!" on X, credited to @POTUS, with a photo of the president beside the decorated Oval Office tree (Daily Citizen; Fox News). This repeats a line Trump used during his first campaign. In a January 2016 speech at Liberty University, he said "If I'm president, you will see 'Merry Christmas' in department stores" (quoted by Daily Citizen). In August 2024 he said "we brought it back, it was in deep trouble" (quoted by Fox News). On Dec 26, the Washington Post published an article calling top officials' Christmas messages "explicitly sectarian." White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson replied: "While the Washington Post would prefer we stick to 'Happy Holidays,' we're saying Merry Christmas again" (Fox News, Dec 28).

  • x.com social post
    We're saying MERRY CHRISTMAS again!
  • Fox News article
    While the Washington Post would prefer we stick to 'Happy Holidays,' we're saying Merry Christmas again.
  • Fox News article
    The Trump administration launched a new website boasting the URL "MerryChristmas.gov"

Sources: dailycitizen.focusonthefamily.com needs a second source · Fox News needs a second source · Fox News needs a second source

Dec 2024 War on Christmas coverage fades in 2024

On December 13, 2024, YouGov published a poll taken December 3–5 of 1,107 U.S. adult citizens. It found 23% of Americans agreed there is a war on Christmas, down from 39% in December 2022. Among Republicans the figure fell from 59% to 36%. Americans United for Separation of Church and State (Dec 16) and an MSNBC opinion piece repeated these numbers. On December 20, Bloomberg Opinion columnist Stephen L. Carter published his yearly "Christmas wars" roundup of lawsuits over Christmas parades, light displays and a Nativity scene. In it he wrote that President-elect Donald Trump "has promised to bring 'Merry Christmas' back."

  • today.yougov.com article
    The share of Americans who agree there is a war on Christmas in the United States has fallen since December 2022, to 23% from 39%.
  • news.bloomberglaw.com article
    In other words, it's time for this year's dispatches from the Christmas wars.
  • ms.now article
    According to a YouGov poll, the percentage of Americans who believe there is a war on Christmas has fallen since December 2022, from 39% to 23%.

Sources: today.yougov.com needs a second source · news.bloomberglaw.com needs a second source · heraldnet.com needs a second source · au.org needs a second source

Dec 2023 Satanic Temple display at the Iowa Capitol

In December 2023 the Satanic Temple of Iowa put up a holiday display in the Iowa Capitol, about 100 feet from the Christmas tree in the rotunda (NBC/AP). On Dec 12, Gov. Kim Reynolds called it "absolutely objectionable." She urged people of faith to pray over the Capitol and to recognize the nativity scene, which she called "the true reason for the season" (KCRG). On Dec 14 the display's Baphomet statue was destroyed. Michael Cassidy, a Republican who lost a Mississippi state House race in November, was charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief and told Fox News Digital the display "was extremely anti-Christian" (Fox News; NBC). Salon's Dec 3, 2023 commentary traces the "War on Christmas" idea to Bill O'Reilly's 2004 segment, which cited bans on Christian Christmas symbols in some public schools and New York City's "holiday tree."

  • kcrg.com article
    Like many Iowans, I find the Satanic Temple’s display in the Capitol absolutely objectionable.
  • NBC News article
    was charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief, the Iowa Department of Public Safety said Friday.
  • Fox News article
    It was extremely anti-Christian,
  • youtube.com video
    Like many Iowans, I find the Satanic Temple's display in the Capitol absolutely objectionable.

Sources: NBC News reliable · Fox News needs a second source · kcrg.com needs a second source · kcrg.com needs a second source · salon.com needs a second source

Oct 2021 – Dec 2021 How Joe Biden Stole Christmas

On Oct. 20, 2021, GZERO Media reported that right-wing media had called President Biden "the Grinch Who Stole Christmas" over supply-chain shortages. On Oct. 21, Fox News reported on an internal memo to Republican Study Committee members in which its chairman, Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), blamed the administration for a shortage-hit Christmas. On Dec. 9, House Natural Resources Republicans, led by Ranking Member Bruce Westerman, held a forum titled "How Joe Biden Stole Christmas: Addressing America's Ongoing Supply Chain Crisis." On Dec. 2, a Fairleigh Dickinson University poll reported that 37% of Americans said politicians were trying to remove the religious elements of the holiday season, up from 29% in 2013.

  • Fox News article
    what the grinches at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave did to ruin Christmas
  • naturalresources.house.gov statement
    How Joe Biden Stole Christmas: Addressing America's Ongoing Supply Chain Crisis
  • prweb.com statement
    politicians are trying to remove the religious elements of the Holiday season, up from 29 percent in 2013

Sources: Fox News needs a second source · gzeromedia.com needs a second source · naturalresources.house.gov needs a second source · prweb.com needs a second source

Nov 2020 – Dec 2020 2020 — The pandemic version

On the Dec 3, 2020 episode of "Tucker Carlson Tonight," Carlson said politicians "figured out that Christmas is bigger than they are and therefore it's a threat to them. Better cancel it, and in fact, they're trying hard." He then played a clip of Dr. Anthony Fauci urging Americans to avoid travel and "congregate settings." HuffPost said the segment gave Fox's "War on Christmas" rhetoric "a pandemic-era twist." The conservative Daily Caller wrote that the phrase "has taken on a whole new meaning in 2020" because of COVID restrictions. Other figures used the same framing, including Rep. Jim Jordan, whose Nov 27 tweet read "They tried to cancel Thanksgiving. Didn't work! They're coming for Christmas next." Critics in Slate (Nov 21) and HuffPost argued it could make the pandemic worse.

  • Fox News broadcast
    What Fauci is saying here in English is that you need to avoid going to church. You need to avoid your own family.
  • HuffPost article
    It's happening again this year, but the debate has taken on a new meaning amidst the coronavirus pandemic
  • slate.com article
    This holiday season, partisan posturing about who hates 'family' is the best accelerant the coronavirus could hope for.
  • archive.org video Watch transcript
    Avoid congregate settings. So say what you will about Tony Fauci, he has mastered, after many decades, the weird euphemisms of Washington, D.C. What Fauci is saying here in English is that you need to avoid going to church. You need to avoid your own family. Those are the congregate settings he just mentioned.

Sources: HuffPost needs a second source · HuffPost needs a second source · slate.com needs a second source · dailycaller.com needs a second source

Nov 2019 – Dec 2019 "War on Thanksgiving" and the "Merry Christmas again" victory claims

At a Nov. 26, 2019 rally in Sunrise, Florida, Trump said "some people" wanted to change the name of Thanksgiving and that "that was true also with Christmas." He gave no specifics. ABC said the remark suggested a new version of what he and others have called the "War on Christmas." ABC also reported that during his first campaign, Trump pledged the White House would go back to saying "Merry Christmas," and that he has since declared victory. In December, Eric Trump told Fox host Jeanine Pirro "It is nice to say 'Merry Christmas' again" (Inquirer). Trump told a Turning Point USA crowd on Dec. 21 that "They're all saying 'Merry Christmas' again," which Snopes described as "another victory lap."

  • ABC News article
    But now everybody’s using Christmas again. Remember, I said that?
  • Newsweek (pre–2013) article
    By mid-morning, the hashtag was No. 3 in the United States trend list with more than 3,000 mentions.
  • presidency.ucsb.edu statement
    They're all saying "Merry Christmas" again. You remember?
  • c-span.org video Watch

Sources: ABC News reliable · The Washington Post reliable · inquirer.com needs a second source · Snopes reliable

Nov 2018 – Dec 2018 "War on Christmas," 2018

On Nov 28, 2018, Trump wished everyone a Merry Christmas on Twitter with a photo from the National Tree Lighting. Newsweek reported that some users reacted to the November timing. Newsweek also recalled that at a July 2018 Florida rally, Trump took credit for ending what he called the "attack on Merry Christmas," pointing to stores that had said "happy holidays." In a Dec 15 piece, Salon wrote that "War on Christmas" season had started on Fox News. It cited Sean Hannity's segment "Christmas Under Siege" and Tucker Carlson objecting to criticism of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." On Nov 30, a Religion News Service opinion piece said Trump "has consistently invoked a fictitious 'War on Christmas' at his rallies" and argued that immigration enforcement was the real one.

  • Newsweek (pre–2013) article
    Trump wished everyone a Merry Christmas on Wednesday evening, including a photo from the National Tree Lighting
  • salon.com article
    It's "War on Christmas" season again, launched as per tradition on Fox News
  • c-span.org video Watch

Sources: Newsweek (pre–2013) needs a second source · salon.com needs a second source · religionnews.com needs a second source

Nov 2017 – Dec 2017 Trump's first December in office and the Starbucks "hands" cup

NPR reported that at a Nov. 29, 2017 tax event in Missouri, Trump repeated a pledge he had made many times since 2015 to end "the so-called war on Christmas." He opened by saying, "I told you that we would be saying Merry Christmas again, right?" NPR's fact-check found Obama had said "Merry Christmas" publicly, including in his Christmas Eve 2016 address, and concluded the phrase "never left the White House." The NYT story reprinted on Boston.com calls the Starbucks cup fight "one front in an annual culture war." That year, some critics asked whether two linked hands on the cup promoted homosexuality.

  • boston.com article
    This year, critics wonder if Starbucks is using its holiday cups to promote homosexuality.
  • NPR article
    I told you that we would be saying Merry Christmas again, right?
  • cbsnews.com article
    We say Merry Christmas, again, very, very proudly

Sources: boston.com needs a second source · NPR reliable · cbsnews.com reliable · stlpr.org needs a second source

Dec 2016 "Merry Christmas again" after the 2016 election

On Dec 20, 2016, the Christian Science Monitor wrote that the "Merry Christmas" vs. "Happy Holidays" debate "inevitably returns each year." It said that in 2016 the pro-"Merry Christmas" side gained "a powerful ally" in President-elect Donald Trump. At a Dec 13 "thank you" rally in Wisconsin, with Christmas trees behind him, Trump said he had told his first Wisconsin crowd "we are going to come back here someday and we are going to say merry Christmas again" (The Hill). In his "Talking Points" segment, most likely broadcast Dec 13 and published as text on FoxNews.com on Dec 15, Fox host Bill O'Reilly said "the War on Christmas has basically been won." He cited the American Family Association's annual "naughty or nice" list of companies and quoted Trump. The Houston Chronicle reported a Public Policy Polling survey released Dec 19: 34% of Americans said there is a War on Christmas, down from 41% three years earlier, and 60% of Trump supporters said so.

  • The Hill article
    we are going to come back here someday and we are going to say merry Christmas again
  • Fox News article
    Since the War on Christmas has basically been won, this is a cleanup operation.
  • c-span.org video Watch
    we are going to come back here someday and we are going to say merry Christmas again.

Sources: csmonitor.com needs a second source · chron.com needs a second source · Fox News needs a second source · The Hill reliable