The Truth About Donald Trump's Office Of The Former President
According to The Hill, former President Donald Trump has opened an office in Florida to handle his post-presidential duties. On Jan. 25, 2021, a press release announced that the Office of the Former President, situated in Palm Beach County, would be responsible for "managing President Trump's correspondence, public statements, appearances and official activities to advance the interests of the United States and to carry on the agenda of the Trump Administration through advocacy, organizing and public activism," (via Reuters). The release also insisted that Trump would "always and forever be a champion for the American People."
As of this writing, Trump has not publicly addressed what "the agenda of the Trump Administration" will include or what he hopes to achieve as a former president. That being said, at this point, it seems that he will have a difficult time engaging with the public through social media post-presidency as he was permanently banned from Twitter following the violence in Washington D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, when his supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to overturn the results of the election. He was also banned (at least, temporarily) from a handful of other social media platforms, including Facebook.
Twitter went off on Donald Trump's Office of the Former President
Following the announcement that Donald Trump was setting up the Office of the Former President, people on social media (unsurprisingly) shared their reactions to the news. While there were some people who seemed to be excited to see what Trump would be getting up to, many (many!) others were eager to either criticize the plan (and the man behind it) or fully joke about the situation.
"What kind of s***hole crybaby loser pretends to have an imaginary 'office of the former president' to make himself feel better about being a s***hole crybaby loser," one obviously unimpressed person tweeted. Another wrote, "Office of the former president. That's like if the Miss Universe runner up went home, made her own crown and called a press conference to put it on."
While yet another Twitter user suggested that "[Barack] Obama, [George W.] Bush, and [Bill] Clinton should start an 'Office of the 2 Term Former Presidents' just to one up Trumps Office of the Former President," Chrissy Teigen had another suggestion, reacting to the news by simply tweeting, "lmao go the f**k away."
Although Trump hasn't been keen on listening to Teigen in the past, he may want to do what she says this time around, as his Office of the Former President may have already gotten him into a sticky — and illegal — situation.
Donald Trump could get in trouble for the Office of the Former President's logo
While Donald Trump sparked plenty of reactions when he established the Office of the Former President, he also might have also stirred up trouble with the logo that he opted to use. "The new office's logo, ... appears to be a black-and-white copy of the logo of the Executive Office of the President of the United States," Business Insider pointed out. Indeed, other than the fact that Trump's name has been added to the bottom, it's pretty much the same.
INBOX: Former President Trump has set up an “Office of the Former President†pic.twitter.com/DSqwDCklcp
— Anders Hagstrom (@Hagstrom_Anders) January 25, 2021
Although it's obvious why Trump would want to use this logo to associate himself with his former position and the current government, he may have crossed a line into illegal territory by doing so.
One person on Twitter brought up Title 18 U.S. Code § 713, and if you're wondering what that means, another social media replied with a screenshot with an explanation of the issue. "Whoever knowingly displays any printed or other likeness of the great seal of the United States, or of the seals of the President or Vice President of the United States ... for the purpose of conveying ... a false impression of sponsorship or approval by the Government of the United States ... shall be fined under this title or imprisoned ... or both." It looks like Trump just can't seem to stay out of trouble.
Donald Trump's political future remains uncertain with impeachment imminent
Just like his time in office, Donald Trump's time out of office has been unconventional. In his farewell speech, former President Donald Trump promised his supporters, "We will be back in some form" (via CNN). The comment sparked speculation that he might run again in 2024. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had discussed the idea of forming a new political party with his associates, which would be called the "Patriot Party," according to their sources. As of this writing, however, he has not made any public appearances since leaving the White House for his Mar-A-Lago resort.
On the same day that the Office of the Former President was announced, the House of Representatives delivered an article of impeachment to the Senate, per CNN. The article charged Trump with "incitement of insurrection" following the attack on the Capitol. His trial will start the week of Feb. 8, 2021, marking the first ever impeachment of a former president, as well as making Trump the only president in history to be impeached twice. In perhaps his most definite comment about the trial thus far, President Joe Biden told CNN on Jan. 26, 2021, that he thinks impeachment "has to happen."