Trump’s narcissism and ignorance compel him to make impulsive choices that satisfy his immediate emotional needs. His self-absorption prevents him from recognizing that the phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was far from “perfect.” The man who can never accept blame nor admit error is his own worst enemy. When one considers that we now lack the senior people who would essentially ignore his orders, we now have the frightful situation where whatever idea pops into Trump’s brain gets translated into public admissions and bizarre policy.

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Ultimately, this behavior makes it impossible for Republicans to affirmatively defend Trump. Those who offer up one of the president’s lame excuses (It was a joke!) are soon undercut by none other than Trump himself. As the evidence mounts, fewer Republicans are willing to spin for Trump, leaving the cable TV shows peculiarly short on pro-administration figures to interview. In essentially frightening his own side into maintaining a defensive, silent crouch, the cable-obsessed Trump further isolates himself, which in turn builds on his natural sense of paranoia and resentment. (Why aren’t those Republicans out there defending me?!) That compels him to lash out more frequently and in more extreme ways, as we saw during Wednesday’s news conference.

One has to imagine that Trump’s irrational, self-destructive behavior — when coupled with his tone-deaf PR moves — has to increase some Senate Republicans’ willingness to part ways with Trump on the ultimate issue of impeachment. In all likelihood, never will a full two-thirds of the Senate vote to remove Trump, but it is still possible that for political cover with constituents and out of an abiding sense of exasperation with Trump’s ever-expanding zone of chaos, more than a couple of Senate Republicans might be inclined to support removal.