Donald Trump Strong-Armed His Way into 'Home Alone 2' By Leveraging Plaza Hotel

Donald Trump's guest starring role in "Home Alone: Lost in New York" was not a nod to his talent ... turns out he was demanding the role in return for allowing filming at his hotel.

Director Chris Columbus told Business Insider how Trump drew a line in the sand -- you wanna shoot at The Plaza, then put me in your movie.

Columbus said, “Like most locations in New York City, you just pay a fee and you are allowed to shoot in that location. We approached The Plaza Hotel, which Trump owned at the time, because we wanted to shoot in the lobby. We couldn’t rebuild The Plaza on a soundstage."

Chris said the future President was blunt ... “Trump said OK. We paid the fee, but he also said, ‘The only way you can use the Plaza is if I’m in the movie.'”

Now here's the thing. It seems Columbus thought Trump would be an annoyance to audiences, but it was the opposite ... "When we screened it for the first time the oddest thing happened: People cheered when Trump showed up on-screen. So I said to my editor, 'Leave him in the movie. It’s a moment for the audience.' But he did bully his way into the movie.”