Calling people by insulting, if infantile, names is something of Trump’s hallmark. There was Crooked Hillary and Sleepy Joe, Little Marco and Lyin’ Ted Cruz. It appeared that Trump believed this somehow tainted his enemies by branding them, even if the appeal of such childish tactics failed to go beyond his most faithful supporters.

But the manner in which he addressed Bloomberg News reporter, Catherine Lucey, on Air Force One went beyond the pale.

On Air Force One on Friday, he cut off a reporter for Bloomberg News, Catherine Lucey, when she tried to ask why he had not yet released the Epstein files.

“Quiet!” the president said. “Quiet, piggy.”

If a reporter called out a question, “Hey fatso, why did you release the Epstein files,” there is no doubt that the reporter would be rightfully criticized for failing to show the office of president the respect it deserved. It’s not that Trump personally deserves any greater respect than he’s shown others, but that he is president, and as president should be shown respect despite the fact that he’s demonstrated neither dignity nor grace in how he’s performed as president. Like it or not, that’s how it works. Elect a vulgar, deceitful, narcissistic ignoramus and that’s what you get.

But calling a reporter, a woman who had once been a Miss Universe contestant no less, “piggy” isn’t merely a new low, but below any nadir tolerable from a person holding public office.

Did Trump apologize for his offensive speech? Have you met Trump? Instead, he attacked ABC reporter Mary Bruce for asking Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about the murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, allegedly at MbS’s orders.

“You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that,” Mr. Trump told the journalist, Mary Bruce of ABC News, later referring to her query as “a horrible, insubordinate, and just a terrible question.”

Nothing particularly new there, as Trump routinely tells reporters they’re terrible for asking questions that displease him. But that’s not where he stopped as he obsequiously protected the crown prince from eminently reasonable questions.

“A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about,” Mr. Trump said, referring to the murdered journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. “Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen.”

A journalist was murdered and dismembered and Trump’s response was people didn’t like him, as if that makes such a thing acceptable? Things happen, like murder and dismemberment by the fellow sitting in the glitzy Oval Office is just one of those things? But Trump wasn’t done with Bruce, who followed up with a question about why Trump didn’t just direct Attorney General Pam Bondi to release the Epstein files, as he could have done at any time.

On Tuesday, regarding Ms. Bruce, the president referred to ABC as a “crappy company” and said that the network’s broadcasting license “should be taken away.” He said that his top broadcast regulator, Brendan Carr, whose agency grants licenses to local stations, “should look at that.”

Yet again, Trump threatens to have his sycophantic FCC head “take away” ABC’s broadcasting license for not saying enough nice things about Trump. While dodging the question, as he typically does, Trump went on.

“It’s not the question that I mind; it’s your attitude,” Mr. Trump told Ms. Bruce, in scolding tones. “I think you are a terrible reporter. It’s the way you ask these questions.” He added: “You’re a terrible person and a terrible reporter.”

The job of reporting isn’t to ask a president to name his favorite McDonald’s meal, but to ask serious questions without fear or favor. There is no legal requirement that the president answer any question, whether or not he likes it or despises the reporter for her “attitude” or waist size, a matter of some particular interest for Trump. But the vitriol directed at reporters, notably women reporters, is outrageous. And there is no universe where Trump saying “quiet, piggy,” is anything other than outrageously offensive.

It’s somewhat understandable that in the grand scheme of offensive and outrageous things that come out of Trump’s mouth, we’ve become desensitized to his infantile behavior and offensive language. Still, calling a reporter “piggy” is a low to which no president should ever go. Not even the guy who brags that he grabs women by their pussies.