President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump spent their afternoon Sunday taking calls from children wanting to know Santa’s whereabouts, as they eagerly awaited his arrival on Christmas Day.

The children’s calls to NORAD’s Santa tracking program were patched through to the Trump residence in Mar-a-Lago, where the First Family is spending Christmas.

The president spoke to at least 12 children from all over the country, ranging in ages five to 12. The First Lady spoke to at least ten children, who ranged from ages seven to 12.

According to a pool of journalists covering the president, Trump asked Casper, 5, from Virginia, “What would you like more than anything?”

“Building blocks, that’s what I’ve always liked too. I always loved building blocks. … Well I predict Santa will bring you building blocks, so many you won’t be able to use them all.”

Trump also told another child, “So you want your grandma to get out of the hospital? That’s what your wish is? That’s great. That’s better than asking for some toy or something, that’s much better, right?”

“So your grandma’s gonna be good, okay, she’s gonna be good,” he told him.

The First Lady was heard asking one child: “How are you? Merry Christmas. Are you tracking Santa? Do you know where he is right now?”

She asked them if they made their lists and assured them that Santa was on his way.

“As soon as you go to sleep, Santa will be there,” she said.

NORAD noted that its mission had now reached the “highest level of government,” with the president and first lady’s involvement.

#NORADTracksSanta’s mission has reached the highest level of government. President Trump and the First Lady are working with NORAD to answer your calls. Call 1-877-HI-NORAD.

— NORAD Tracks Santa (@NoradSanta) December 24, 2017

 

North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is the military command in charge of defending the airspace over North America. It has helped children track Santa as he makes his journey since 1958.

In 1955, a local media advertisement encouraged children to call Santa directly, but misprinted the phone number, so instead of reaching Santa, the calls went to the crew commander at the Continental Air Defense Command Operations Center, which later became NORAD. Thus began the tradition.

Helping track Santa at NORAD are the men and women serving in the New York Air National Guard from the 224th Air Defense Group, as well as a Canadian Forces detachment, Army, Navy and Coast Guard liaison officers, and federal civilians.

Residents of Baghdad have erected a 30-foot-tall Christmas tree to celebrate Christmas and to mark the end of the terror army Islamic State (ISIS), beaten back by Iraqi Security Forces.

The giant tree made international news, according to a Fox News tweet which read, “Iraqi Christians have raised a 30-ft. tall Christmas tree in Baghdad to celebrate both the holiday and the expulsion of ISIS extremists by Iraq Security Forces”:

Iraqi Christians have raised a 30-ft. tall Christmas tree in Baghdad to celebrate both the holiday and the expulsion of ISIS extremists by Iraq Security Forces. http://pic.twitter.com/e96oaR5neN

— Fox News (@FoxNews) December 23, 2017

Presidential spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders also remarked on the incredible display in a December 24 tweet reading, “Thank God for the President’s leadership in fight to defeat ISIS”:

Thank God for the President’s leadership in fight to defeat ISIS https://t.co/zsewP7cIuc

— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) December 24, 2017

This year’s display mirrors last year’s tree erected by Muslim businessman Yassi Saad who then said he hoped that the display would help bring together Christian and Muslim Iraqis in a new spirit of cooperation as his country continued to heal after being freed from Saddam Hussein’s tyranny.

In 2016, Saad said that his goal was to join “our Christian brothers in their holiday celebrations and helping Iraqis forget their anguish.”

The businessman also noted that the 33-foot-diameter, 85-foot-tall tree cost him around $24,000 to build last year. This year’s tree erected at the same location and with similar measurements is likely also similar in costs.

It wasn’t clear if Mr. Saad was involved in this year’s decoration.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.

German economists are warning that the tax overhaul bill that now awaits the signature of President Donald Trump will mean that “significant amounts of new investment and jobs will shift from Europe to the United States,” according to the German business news publication Handelsblatt.

The United States has had a much higher tax rate for businesses than Germany and most of Europe. Under the tax reform bill, the corporate rate in the U.S. will fall to 21 percent, lower than the estimated 28.2 percent effective rate in Germany and close to the European average of 20.9 percent.

Handelsblatt reports:

“The tax competition will have a new dimension,” said Christoph Spengel, chairman of the corporate tax department at the University of Mannheim. Mr. Spengel, who is also a research associate at the Center for European Economic Research, and a group of tax experts at the university have done a detailed comparison of the two countries’ tax systems and published a report under the heading, “Germany loses out in US tax reform.”

Clemens Fuest, who heads the Ifo economic think tank, also said he believed German business would suffer. “Investments and jobs will migrate to the US,” he said.

The potential capital influx could be as high as $42.29 billion, or 39 billion euros, according to Handlesblatt.

Gavin Ekins, a research economist at the Tax Foundation in Washington, argued that it is not only the tax rate that will make the US more attractive. He told Handelsblatt Global that in figuring out their “service cost,” a metric that measures the cost of capital, companies also have to consider local labor costs, regulatory burdens, and things like energy prices and the cost of land.The US has the advantage in almost every category, he noted, but until now firms were deterred by the high corporate tax.

“Now you get a windfall for having capital in the US, so that causes investors to invest,” Mr. Ekins says. The change in the capital investment rules gives US firms “a tremendous advantage,” he said. “It’s a pro-capital formation tax bill and this is why other countries are so wary about what the investment landscape will look like.”

Using direct investment figures from the period 2008-2012, the German specialists calculated that the value of German foreign direct investment in the US could rise by €39 billion with the tax reform. It said US direct investment in Germany would also rise, but by a much smaller amount: €6.3 billion.

Handlesblatt’s reporting highlights the shallowness of much of the U.S. media’s coverage of the tax bill, which has focused on claims that U.S. corporations are likely to use much of the windfall from tax cuts to pay dividends and buy back shares.