Donald Trump has claimed that being called "The Donald" is really no big deal. "I don't mind that it stuck," he told The Washington Post last September. "I think it's an endearment." He's fine. Everything is fine.
But in 1990, an Eastern Airlines employee named Charles Beattie sued Trump after being fired from the company once Trump purchased it and renamed it Trump Shuttle, The Washington Post discovered. During that lawsuit, Beattie repeatedly called Trump "The Donald": "The Donald is reputed to be a very rich man," as one example.
Trump's lawyers responded with a filing that took issue with Beattie's usage, claiming "there is absolutely no basis for plaintiff to create a circus atmosphere in this Court by referring to Mr. Trump as 'The Donald'…Such allegations, which make Mr. Trump appear as a caricature of cartoon-like proportions, are simply unnecessary." Another filing revealed that being called "The Donald" made Trump "uncomfortable."
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