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Donald Trump was reportedly “irked” that the judge at his arraignment Thursday referred to him as “Mr. Trump” rather than “Mr. President” – and left the hearing in DC in a “sour and dejected mood.”
Trump, who enjoys the presidential honorific, “was, quote, ‘pissed off,’ according to someone who spoke to him,” CNN’s Kaitlan Collins said after the former commander-in-chief pleaded not guilty to a four-count indictment Thursday.
“I’m learning tonight that Trump left here in a sour and dejected mood,” she added.
“I am told that the former president, one thing that irked him particularly, was during that hearing today that lasted about 27 minutes, was when the magistrate judge referred to him as simply ‘Mr. Trump,’” Collins continued.
“That may not sound odd to anyone else, but he is still referred to by his former title ‘President Trump’ when he’s at his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey, as he is tonight, or at Mar-a-Lago,” the anchor of “The Source” told viewers.
The 77-year-old’s own defense attorney, John Lauro, referred to “President Trump” at the start of Thursday’s hearing before reverting to the more prosaic “my client” after US Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadyaha used the standard greeting.
The former president was also visibly annoyed by Upadyaha showing up 20 minutes late to the 4 p.m. hearing, repeatedly shaking his head while he waited.
The judge’s greeting was also not lost on people following the arraignment — and triggered speculation on social media about whether Trump would be offended by it.
“Wow. The first words of the Judge overseeing today’s arraignment are “Good afternoon, Mr. Trump,” Democratic commentator Victor Shi tweeted.
“No mention of Donald Trump being former president. No special treatment. Treating him as just another man in a Courtroom. This is the rule of law at its best,” he added.
ABC News producer John Santucci also noted how the judge addressed Trump.
“If there is one thing I know Trump loves that he’s called Mr. President now,” he wrote.
Others, meanwhile, believed Trump would have every right to feel slighted.
“Every other president would have been addressed as ‘President’ not ‘Mr.’… Let’s be real,” the right-wing Daily Caller chief national correspondent Henry Rodgers tweeted.
Here's what to know about former President Donald Trump's federal indictment
Former President Donald Trump has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to mishandling classified White House documents that were recovered at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Trump unlawfully kept hundreds of documents after leaving office — including papers detailing America’s conventional and nuclear weapons programs, potential weak points in US defenses, and plans to respond to a foreign attack, federal prosecutors charged Friday.
The 45th president stored boxes containing the documents throughout his estate, including “a ballroom, a bathroom and shower, an office space, his bedroom, and a storage room,” according to a 49-page indictment filed in Miami federal court Thursday.
Follow The Post’s coverage of former President Trump’s federal indictment
The indictment against Trump was unsealed hours after the 77-year-old announced he had been charged by Jack Smith, the special counsel tapped in November to examine Trump’s retention of official documents at Mar-a-Lago.
The indictment is the former commander-in-chief’s second since leaving office and marks the first time in US history a former president has faced federal charges.
In April, Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg related to hush-money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 election.
In the courtroom, Trump, 77, shook his head slightly as US Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadyaha read out the docket number and said: “United States v. Donald J. Trump.”
He then emphatically pleaded not guilty to charges that he engaged in criminal conspiracies aimed at subverting the results of the 2020 presidential election results and keeping himself in power.
“When you look at what’s happening, this is a persecution of a political opponent,” Trump said in a brief statement to reporters at Regan National Airport.
“This was never supposed to happen in America. This is the persecution of the person that’s leading by very, very substantial numbers in the Republican primary and leading Biden by a lot,” he continued.
“So if you can’t beat him, you persecute them or you prosecute him. We can’t let this happen in America,” Trump added before departing without taking any questions.
Trump later struck a different tone and declared in a full-caps, defiant post that he had a “very good day.”
“CONSIDERING THE FACT THAT I HAD TO FLY TO A FILTHY, DIRTY, FALLING APART, & VERY UNSAFE WASHINGTON, D.C., TODAY, & THAT I WAS THEN ARRESTED BY MY POLITICAL OPPONENT, WHO IS LOSING BADLY TO ME IN THE POLLS, CROOKED JOE BIDEN, IT WAS A VERY GOOD DAY!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
With Caitlin Doornbos in Washington
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