In a thoughtful bid to divert the mind from the potential horrors of a “clean” Brexit, I ask you to consider a clean Trexit. How might the US free itself and the rest of us from the ultimate menace posed by Donald Trump?

Dystopia doesn’t formally open for business until Friday’s inauguration, when the entertainment will feature a rendition of the popular Slavic ballad “Golden Showers In Moscow” by the Russian State Singers. Yet even before Trump takes the oath to protect the Constitution, attention turns to how the Constitution might protect us from him.

All we know of Trump, including the fact that he repeatedly asked national security advisers why it’s poor form to use nukes as first strike weapons, gives genuine cause to regard him as an existential threat. Or as Kate McKinnon’s Hillary pithily put it in a Love Actually skit on Saturday Night Live: “He cray… He will kill us all.”

Currently, the assumption is that if ever Trump appeared to be on the verge of summoning the “football” (the briefcase with the codes), the secret service would intervene to remove him from the planet while there is still a viable planet from which to remove him.

But that assumption is too nebulous to give comfort. Although there are precedents of a palpably insane ruler’s personal protection squad taking him out (Caligula’s murder by his Praetorian Guard, and so on), it would be complacent to rely on that.

President Donald Trump life in pictures Show all 16 1 /16 President Donald Trump life in pictures President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump poses in a rocking chair once used by President John F. Kennedy at his New York City residence Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Developer Donald Trump with his new bride Marla Maples after their wedding at the Plaza hotel in New York Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and Celina Midelfart watch the match between Conchita Martinez and Amanda Coetzer during U.S. Open. She was the date whom Donald Trump was with when he met his current wife Melania at a party in 1996 Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas serving as the grand marshal for the Daytona 500, speaks to Donald Trump and Melania Knauss on the starting grid at the Daytona International Speedwa Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Developer Donald Trump talks with his former wife Ivana Trump during the men's final at the U.S. Open Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and his friend Melania Knauss pose for photographers as they arrive at the New York premiere of Star Wars Episode : 'The Phantom Menace,' Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Billionaire real estate developer Donald Trump talks with host Larry King. Trump told King that he was moving toward a possible bid for the United States presidency with the formation of a presidential exploratory committee Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump answers questions as Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura looks on in Brooklyn Park. Trump said on Friday he 'very well might' make a run for president under the Reform Party banner but had not made a final decision Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Billionaire Donald Trump makes a face at a friend as he sits next to Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso before the start of the 2003 Miss Universe pageant in Panama City Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Entrepreneur Donald Trump is greeted by a Marilyn Monroe character look-a-alike, as he arrives at Universal Studios Hollywood to attend the an open casting call for his NBC television network reality series 'The Apprentice.' Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and Simon Cowell present an Emmy during the 56th annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and Megan Mullally perform at the 57th annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump, poses with his children, son Donald Trump, Jr., and daughters Tiffany and Ivanka Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Billionaire Donald Trump told Miss USA 2006 Tara Conner on Tuesday she would be given a second chance after reported misbehavior Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump holds a replica of his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as his wife Melania holds their son Barron in Los Angeles Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures U.S. property mogul Donald Trump stands next to a bagpiper during a media event on the sand dunes of the Menie estate, the site for Trump's proposed golf resort, near Aberdeen, north east Scotland Reuters

Assassinating the elected leader of a major democracy is such a giant step that one can easily foresee a catastrophic failure of nerve during the frantic approach of the doomsday scenario. And no such order can be countermanded. Four minutes later, as Hillary Clinton revealed in a debate, the missile departs its sub or silo.

So (and forgive me if this sounds fey) it would be nice if there was a quicker formal method than impeachment – which takes months while a President remains in office – to prevent Trump from bringing about an extinction level event.

Thankfully, there is. Ladies and gentlemen, say a rousing hi and “Good day, y’all” to the 25th Amendment. Adopted in 1967, until now this has been among the more obscure additions to the US Constitution. It lacks the grandeur of the First (freedom of speech, and so on), the gruesome results of the Second (right to bear arms), the courtroom drama of pleading the Fifth (right not to self-incriminate), or the historic import of the 13th (abolition of slavery).

Many will know it – and specifically Section 3 – solely from The West Wing episode where it wasn’t activated, as required, to transfer power to the Vice President while surgeons operated on Jed Bartlet’s gunshot wound.

That plot line referenced the actual confusion when Ronald Reagan was shot. His VP, George Bush the Elder, was out of contact, and the unstable Al Haig mistakenly told a press conference, “I’m in charge”.

Corbyn makes fun of Trump's hair live on TV

In real life, the 25th has been invoked only twice, each time for a matter of hours while a president underwent a colonoscopy. Reagan had one in 1985, and chose to have a pre-cancerous polyp instantly removed. In 2007, George Bush the Younger elected to leave a menacing foreign body discovered in his colon (Mr Tony Blair?) in situ.

But also in the 25th is Section 4, which reads as follows: “Whenever the Vice President and a majority [of the US cabinet] transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.”

Under this mutiny clause, the VP and a majority of the 15 cabinet officers can stand down a president whose mental capacity they doubt. Late in Reagan’s second term, when his attention span had become negligible (remind you of anyone?), his inner circle came close to doing so.

Should it be used, and should the President challenge it, the VP and the cabinet send the ultimate decision to Congress. If two thirds of each House votes that the President is unfit to govern, the VP continues as Acting President.

Comfortingly, Mike Pence’s lack of charisma and grossly anti-abortion and homophobic stances make the 25th his likeliest path to the Oval Office. Pence seems relatively sane, however poisonous his views, and his ambition gives him a huge incentive to act if Trump’s tiny fingers are twitching over the nuclear trigger; or solid proof about his Muscovite connections destroys what might be called his presidential integrity; or any myriad of potential disqualifications come to light.

Also comfortingly, several of Trump’s cabinet appointees have already showed enough disdain for his tweet-happy policymaking to suggest they take the McKinnon-Hillary point.

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These are violent and uncharted waters. But what other waters are there with President Donald J Trump? It’s lovely to know that there is a constitutional mechanism to remove him if required.