The United States has officially elected the most sensitive man in the country to serve as president. Not sensitive to the needs of others, the way a president ought to be, but sensitive to anything said about him that isn’t the equivalent of a fireworks display and a 21-gun salute. We initially suspected that he was going to handle criticism poorly, and he showed no lack of evidence when it came to his temperament, but his inability to maintain any sort of composure is showing that this job is going to crush him spiritually and intellectually.
A quick search of his name with the words ‘angry’, ‘upset’, or ‘cranky’ shows what’s happened in the past week alone. Donald Trump is ‘upset’ that Sean Spicer was played by Melissa McCarthy, because he ‘doesn’t like his people to look weak’, according to a source close to him. The implications of saying someone is weak because of gender are certainly lost on him, but the gist of this is that he was upset by a late-night weekend comedy show that he insists is ‘failing’ anyway. What else raised Trump’s dander? He’s apparently ‘upset and angry’ over the Australian refugee deal. He became angry with the New York Times, his nemesis and constant foil, over several things: one being a report that suggested he wasn’t entirely briefed over giving Bannon a spot on the National Security Council, and the other suggesting his staff doesn’t know how to turn on the lights in The White House. Let us remember that this has been all occurred in the past week alone.
His inauguration day, and the following weekend, was marked largely by his complaints over demonstrations against him, negative Twitter messages, and the fact that his inauguration was not as popular as Obama’s in 2009. In a terrifying turn of events, we became aware of his team’s concept of ‘alternative facts’, and saw that this was going to become his way of dealing with any negative press. This can’t last forever; people are beginning to catch on and see that he isn’t handling this whole president thing very well. Further reporting that he’s cranky from lack of sleep, demands to watch television at all times of the day, and was more excited about choosing window treatments than being briefed on current situations seems to point to a lack of ability to perform his duties. This man, who once said that Hillary Clinton ‘doesn’t have the stamina’ to be president, must be haunted by the fact that he’s failing in this regard.
With this in mind, there’s been talk about invoking the Twenty-Fifth Amendment, Section 4, which states that the president may be removed if he is ‘unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office’. As one might suspect, there’s a fair amount of people that need to agree to this before he’s able to be removed, and this is why it’s unlikely to be successful. While Donald Trump has not been popular, and while he has his share of foes on both sides of the aisle, this extreme measure would need to be marked by true inability to perform duties and cannot ride on reports of him being cranky. Fortunately for us, this isn’t going to be necessary.
We do not need to invoke this amendment because Donald Trump is going to resign. This is a man whose primary concern is being popular and hearing people clap for him, a man who continues to make speeches about national holidays focus on how much better his ratings were when he was hosting The Apprentice. He’s striving to prove to people that he’s popular and he’s liked, but eventually he will be ground down and try to find a way out when this proves fruitless. He’s going to try and tell us that we did this, that we broke a powerful, successful man through our cruel torment. He’s going to make it seem as if Alec Baldwin’s impersonation of him is in violation of Geneva Conventions, and that CNN’s coverage of him was patently false and he was unable to make anyone see the light. He’s going to try and make us feel bad for him, but we won’t. Donald Trump is not going to be impeached through a lengthy trial marked by heroic statements from lawmakers of both parties, nor is he going to be undone by his financial ties that he has yet to disclose. Donald Trump is going to resign, and he’s going to try and let us know it’s because of how much the people and ‘fake news’ hurt his feelings.