qcd

as long as you are over 70.5 years old, you can always do a QCD from your Trad IRA.  A QCD is part of your RMD it is not separate.

Are you confusing that with Roth conversions? in that case you must satisfy RMDs prior to doing Conversions. That is very different than a QCD. 

There is no requirement that a QCD come from an RMD, but for a QCD to satisfy some or all of your RMD you must make the QCD before completing your RMD, otherwise the QCD will be a distribution in addition to the amount paid to you as your RMD.  The first amounts distributed in an RMD year are RMD whether or not the distribution is made as a QCD.