President Trump and Melania Trump on the phone with children on Christmas Eve at the White House.

Hey, kids under 8 years old, thanks for reading The New York Times. But this time, please don’t. Maybe go play Minecraft or something instead.

… O.K., are they gone now? Cool. Here’s what President Trump said to a child about Santa Claus on Monday: “Are you still a believer in Santa? Because at 7, it’s marginal, right?”

“Yes, sir,” the child, Collman, responded twice. She had spoken with the president for at least 10 seconds before he suggested that her parents had been lying to her all her life.

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She also told him she planned to put out cookies, according to The Post and Courier of Charleston, S.C., which obtained video of Collman’s side of the conversation.

The president made the comments from the White House while he and the first lady, Melania Trump, fielded calls from a hotline for children wondering where Santa was.

Lexington girl talks to President Trump on Christmas Eve Credit... Video by Post and Courier

Mr. Trump’s faux pas was roundly mocked on social media, where he was criticized for breaking the covenant in which we have all agreed to deceive our children.

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But in case you’re wondering: The president was right. It is, indeed, marginal at 7.

Most children stop believing in Santa somewhere between 5 and 8 years old, according to several studies. That range has been largely consistent for decades; a 1978 study said that 85 percent of 5-year-olds believed, while just 25 percent of 8-year-olds kept the faith.

One 2015 study from Australia found that children are catching on earlier, perhaps because the internet is full of spoilers.

It appeared the Trumps were enjoying the occasion, which is part of the annual Santa-tracking program run by the North American Aerospace Defense Command, known as Norad. Mr. Trump let out an ear-to-ear smile during his discussion with Collman, while Mrs. Trump called it “one of my favorite traditions.”

And Collman, who was probably going to figure it out eventually anyway, will now have a story to tell for the rest of her life. Merry Christmas to all.

Correction: Dec. 25, 2018 An earlier version of this article misidentified the 7-year-old who spoke with President Trump on Christmas Eve. The child is a girl named Collman, not a boy named Coleman. Dec. 25, 2018

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