- Former President Donald Trump says he is establishing an ex-president’s office in Florida.
- Experts say the move is not uncommon for former presidents, but it can become problematic.
- An expert said that presidents “can easily live in the gray areas, if they want”.
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
Former President Donald Trump on Monday announced the creation of the Former President’s Office in Florida, his first public move since he left the White House last week. The name was received with some incredulity, but the concept is far from being new, according to experts.
“Today, the 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, formally opened the Office of the Former President,” according to a statement.
“The Office will be responsible for managing President Trump’s correspondence, public statements, appearances and official activities to promote the interests of the United States and to further the agenda of the Trump administration through defense, organization and public activism. President Trump will make it always and forever a champion of the American people. “
Read More: Trump opened an ‘Ex-President’s Office’ to issue Palm Beach statements, as he remains barred from accessing most social media
The former president’s ability to communicate publicly after leaving office was complicated by his removal from several social media platforms – including his favorite platform, Twitter – following the January 6 siege of the United States Capitol. He was even prevented from posting when announcing the new position for his base in Palm Beach, Florida.
A post-presidential office allows commanders-in-chief to formally continue to defend and transmit messages to the American public – one of the many advantages of former presidents.
Jeffrey Engel, director of the presidential history center at Southern Methodist University, said the creation of such an office was not uncommon for a former president.
“This is one of the most normal things that President Trump has done,” Engel told Insider. “Every president receives funds from Congress to establish his post-presidential office for the purpose of looking after his own schedule, but more importantly, dealing with correspondence that addresses the informal duties of a former chief commander.”
Getty
Todd Belt, the director of the master’s program in political management at George Washington University, said it was unusual for Trump to add “president” to the name of his post-president office.
“You know, basically they call it your name’s office,” said Belt. “For example, the Office of George W. Bush or George HW Bush; that of President Clinton is the Clinton Foundation. There are the Office of Barack and Michelle Obama and the Obama Foundation on the same website.”
“So, generally, you get the word president out of it, you know?” he added. “I mean, you don’t want to keep the deadline.”
Under the Ex-Presidents Act of 1958, a post-presidential office can be created from the moment the president leaves the White House until six months after the taxpayer-financed ex-president’s death. President George HW Bush’s office was closed in 2019 after his death.
Belt said the post could be problematic, however, if Trump decides to use it to promote a political agenda.
“I’m not sure if this office can be used for this,” he said, “because you’re not supposed to be using taxpayer money for any open campaign work. There is a potential conflict of interest.”
There may be some ‘gray areas’ in what is considered an ethical use of the office
“As we saw with the Trump presidency, a president can easily live in the gray areas if he wants to,” said Engel. “I don’t have the feeling that President Trump was never particularly concerned with the appearance of ethics and the appearance of impropriety.
“So there is every kind of space for a person to use this position for their own political agenda and not for the public service mission for which it was designed.”
It is unclear what messages the former president will choose to convey from the federal cabinet, nor what his intentions will be for a post-presidential life. Trump was said to be preparing for a run in 2024, restarting his TV career or raising money to finance a presidential library.
Trump was said to have launched the idea of breaking with Republicans and creating a new political party – called the Patriot Party – to keep Republican lawmakers in line before his impending impeachment trial. But his campaign denied any association with a party of that name after a man from Georgia filed a paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to form it this week.
“I think Donald Trump will be an aberration in the long run,” said Belt. “I don’t see many people who would like to rule like him, and I don’t see anyone who can rule like him – that absolute strength of personality that made so many people join him.”
Belt continued, “It was certainly not an understanding of the common functioning of government.”