Former President Donald Trump reportedly grew aggravated and angry during his recent federal district court arraignment in Washington, D.C. Not due particularly to getting indicted for the third time in less than five months. But because the federal magistrate judge referred to him as “Mr. Trump,” not “Mr. President.”
Trump likely isn’t the only ex-commander in chief to recoil from presidential status loss. But he’s certainly the first to do so amid adverse legal proceedings — being charged with four counts in connection with his efforts to subvert the will of voters in 2020.
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The episode is clearly particularly galling to Trump because he’s far ahead of 2024 GOP rivals for the Republican nomination and is on track for a rematch against President Joe Biden. So, in a country split just about evenly politically, he stands a chance of returning to the White House and again earning the title “Mr. President.”
But for now, Trump is just a private citizen facing an array of federal and state charges. This gives his GOP rivals, far back in the primary pack, an opening to taunt Trump over his presidential status loss and capitalize on it.
Knowing how much it bothers him, it’s easy to see GOP opponents on the campaign trail and debate stage calling him “Trump,” or even “Donald.” With no displayed aptitude to turn the other cheek, the former president could lash back at taunting rivals, such as former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and perhaps Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), and provide them much-needed political oxygen.
This would also be the right thing to do, setting an example for how former officeholders, from the president on down, shouldn’t be able to use their titles once out of office. That includes not only Trump but fellow Republican former President George W. Bush, along with the living Democratic ex-presidents, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter. “Mr. Bush,” “Mr. Clinton,” etc., work just fine.
It’s admittedly not the country’s most urgent problem, but it’s still a bad precedent worth correcting. According to USA.gov, a federal government website, the correct way to address a letter to former presidents, vice presidents, and first ladies is to use “the Honorable John Doe” and the correct salutation as “Mr. Doe” or “Mrs. Doe.”
Former high officeholders look even less worthy of keeping titles from their old jobs when they’ve followed the time-honored tradition of cashing in on their public service. Biden as a private citizen, after eight years as vice president and 36 in the Senate, earned more than $15 million over two years, with the bulk of it coming from lucrative public speaking and book deals. His representatives reportedly insisted he be billed as “Vice President Biden,” even though Republican Mike Pence held that job at the time.
Christie, meanwhile, cleaned up after exiting the New Jersey governor’s office in early 2018. He “has repeatedly capitalized, for personal gain, on the connections he made as one of the best-known governors in the country,” the New York Times reported in June, detailing his private sector earnings well into seven figures, including being put on retainer by DraftKings, “a fantasy sports behemoth that stood to benefit enormously from the Christie administration’s support for legalizing sports betting.”
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Biden and Christie both earned those paychecks within the bounds of the law, as would most others in such enviably lucrative positions. Still, there’s no reason to bestow them honorifics from jobs they no longer held and from which they have since earned big bucks.
In the Republican presidential primary fight, most Trump rivals seem unwilling to provoke his wrath and refuse to call him “Mr. President” or “President Trump.” Yet considering they’re all lagging way behind in state and national polls, it’s a strategy worth trying. Nothing else has worked yet.
