Viral Video Shows President Trump Seething When Justin Trudeau Calls Him ‘Donald’ — Which Trump Hates
With just one word, Justin Trudeau appeared to set Donald Trump seething.
Video from the G-20 Summit in Argentina shows the Canadian prime minister standing on stage with Trump as they discussed a newly revamped trade deal. In the clip, Trudeau appeared to forgo the formality of referring to the American president by his title and instead called him “Donald.”
As has been widely reported, Donald Trump hates being referred to by his first name and prefers others call him Mr. Trump. As Time noted, as soon as he took office in January, 2017, the White House even updated his official biography to make sure all references read “Mr. Trump.”
“Mr. Trump followed in his father’s footsteps as a real estate developer, and he entered the world of real estate development in New York,” his biography read. “Mr. Trump has authored over fourteen bestsellers and his first book.”
In the viral video clip from this weekend’s summit, Donald Trump appeared to purse his lips in anger after Trudeau called him “Donald.”
While Trudeau’s intentions weren’t clear, some of Donald Trump’s political opponents have used his dislike of his first name to gain an advantage. In their first presidential debate, Hillary Clinton set the tone when she greeted her Republican rival as “Donald” and then set out to rile him up over the course of three debates, hitting all of his buttons — claiming he isn’t really as wealthy as he claims, attacking his treatment of women, and calling him a “Russian puppet.”
The exact moment when Canada's Prime Minister referred to President Trump as "Donald" in public – something he reportedly hates.
Then, his reaction. pic.twitter.com/ajg32OUyfu
— Muhammad Lila (@MuhammadLila) November 30, 2018
Trudeau refused to play along at today's signing ceremony. He opted not to hold up the agreement to showcase the leaders' signatures. Most notably, he refused to refer to the agreement by the name Trump gave it—USMCA—instead calling it "the new NAFTA." https://t.co/hOwVr8Mfer
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) November 30, 2018
Donald Trump is apparently not a fan of some of his other famous nicknames. As the Washington Post reported during the 2016 presidential campaign, he was never all that fond of the moniker “The Donald” that became popular during his time as host of The Apprentice. The report found a training manual for Trump University — the real estate seminar Trump pitched before being sued as a fraud and paying a $25 million settlement — noted that instructors should always call him Donald J. Trump on first reference and Donald Trump afterward. They were never to call him “The Donald.”
Not everyone has followed the advisement. A man who sued Donald Trump after losing his job at an airline when Trump bought part of the company used his dislike of the nickname as a courtroom tactic. The man’s lawyer constantly referred to him as “The Donald” and mocked Trump for his repeated deferments from fighting in Vietnam. Trump’s lawyers eventually asked the judge to make them stop using the nickname, and the judge agreed.
