Donald Trump’s relationship with the document he swore to protect in January has become even more special.

He was always a quixotic voice on the US Constitution, adoring the Second Amendment (right to bear arms) as fiercely as he hates the First (right to free speech) for preventing him from suing newspapers for fair comment.

Yet however inconsistent his previous constitutional musings, they took a turn towards the deranged this weekend.

Traditionally, US citizens facing potential criminal charges have pled the Fifth (right not to self-incriminate) with such robotic frequency that it has become a movie cliche. Watch Miss Sloane, a scintillating thriller about the ineffably nauseating world of Washington lobbyists, and you’ll hear Jessica Chastain’s title character repeatedly stonewall a Congressional enquiry with the mantra: “I must respectfully decline to answer your question, based on my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.”

Technically, nothing the tangerine huckster could do now, from shutting down South Dakota by executive order to nuking Andorra, has the power to shock. But throwing away a precious constitutional right, and actively choosing to incriminate himself when under no pressure to say anything, was a touch startling.

Donald Trump insists 'no collusion' after Michael Flynn admits lying to FBI

The relevant tweet came in response to Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign, flipping its onetime director. Mike Flynn has pled guilty to lying to the FBI over his dealings with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak before Trump took office.

It seems that Flynn was deputed by someone close to Trump to discuss sanctions with Kislyak in breach of the Logan Act forbidding private citizens dealing with foreign governments. If that and/or Flynn’s other extracurricular activities (trying to prevent a UN resolution condemning Israel for its settlements) deliberately undermined White House policy, it might not be a billion miles from treason.

Since Flynn has been charged with a trivial offence carrying a six month sentence, it is assumed he has agreed to serenade Mueller with sweet canary song. More arrests and charges are thought inevitable as the Kremlin walls close in on Donald Trump – though if he is sticking to the standard McDonald’s meal outlined in a new book (two Big Macs, two Filet-O-Fish, chocolate malt milk shake) it might be more accurate that Trump’s belly is closing in on the Kremlin walls. This may prove a two horse race between impeachment and infarction.

Whatever the state of his coronary arteries, the heartbreaking tweet he filed on Saturday went: "I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI … It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!”

Until then, he claimed he fired Flynn purely for lying to Mike Pence. Trump’s admission to knowing his short lived National Security Advisor had lied to the Feds before he urged previous special counsel James Comey to “go easy on Flynn” looks remarkably like a voluntary confession to the impeachable offence of obstructing justice.

Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Show all 30 1 /30 Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Threatening to shut down Twitter after being fact-checked After the president tweeted that voting by post would be "substantially fraudulent", Twitter attached a warning label to his tweet and referred readers to a site which explained how the claim was "unsubstantiated". Trump then said Twitter was "stifling free speech" and that he may have to shut it down, something which he would not have the power to do AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Flippantly dismissing a serious allegation of sexual assault When author E Jean Carroll accused Trump of raping her, the president responded: “Number one, she’s not my type. Number two, it never happened. It never happened, OK?" AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Insulting the Mayor of London as he landed in London Just before touching down at Stansted Airport for his state visit, Trump took time out to @ the London mayor Sadiq Khan on twitter. He said that Khan has done a "terrible job"as mayor and that he is a "stone cold loser" Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Taking plenty of "Executive Time" The president's official schedule sets aside the hours from 8 to 11am daily for "Executive Time". Further intermittent periods of "Executive Time" are scheduled throughout any given day, ranging from 15 minutes to 3 hours. His duties in these hours have not been officially disclosed, though Axios reports that he spends them watching TV, reading the newspapers and tweeting Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Shutdown the government for over a month in an effort to secure funding for his wall With Mexico declining to pay for the wall, the president has faced difficulty in raising the required $5bn at home. Due to his demand that the money for the wall be included in the budget, and Congress's refusal, the government partially shut down on 22 December 2018. It remained shut for over a month, the longest period in history Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Joking about the Nazi occupation of France to President Macron In this tweet from 13 November 2018, the president mocks Emmanuel Macron's suggestion of a "true, European army" by invoking the conflict between France and Germany in the world wars Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Railing against the Mueller investigation The president has repeatedly claimed that the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, is a "rigged witch hunt" Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Contradicting a US intelligence report on Russian meddling in the presence of Vladimir Putin In the press conference that followed his landmark meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Trump stated that he saw no reason why Russia would have meddled in the 2016 US election. This contradicted a 2017 report by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence that found evidence of Russian interference in favour of Trump Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Contradicting his contradiction of a US intelligence report on Russian meddling Following furious backlash in the US, the president claimed that he meant to say that he saw no reason why it would not have been Russia who meddled in the 2016 US election. As to why he would have intended to use such bizarre phrasing, he did not comment Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Colouring in the US flag wrong The president coloured in the US flag wrongly during a visit to a children's hospital in Columbus, Ohio. He added a blue stripe where in tradition, and statute, there have been only white and red stripes AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Firing a Secretary of State over Twitter The president announced on Twitter that he was appointing Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State, much to the surprise of then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Quoting a catchphrase from a reality TV show when discussing police brutality While addressing the issue of black athletes not standing for the national anthem in protest of police brutality, the president made reference to his catchphrase from reality TV show "The Apprentice": you're fired! Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Calling African nations "S***hole Countries" Ever one for diplomacy, the president reportedly referred to African nations as "s***hole countries". Asked to confirm this when meeting with Nigeria's President Buhari, Trump stated that there are "some countries that are in very bad shape". Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Defending Russian President Vladimir Putin Trump appeared to equate US foreign actions to those of Russian president Vladimir Putin, saying: “There are a lot of killers. You think our country’s so innocent?” Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Asking for people to 'pray' for Arnold Schwarzenegger At the National Prayer Breakfast, Trump couldn’t help but to ask for prayers for the ratings on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s show to be good. Schwarzenegger took over as host of “The Apprentice” — which buoyed Trump’s celebrity status years ago Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Hanging up on Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull Early in his presidency, Trump reportedly hung up the phone on Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull after the foreign leader angered him over refugee plans. Mr Trump later said that it was the “worst call” he had had so far Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... The 'Muslim ban' Perhaps one of his most controversial policies while acting as president, Trump’s travel ban targeting predominantly Muslim countries has bought him a lot of criticism. The bans were immediately protested, and judges initially blocked their implementation. The Supreme Court later sided with the administration’s argument that the ban was developed out of concern for US security Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Praising crowd size while touring Hurricane Harvey damage After Hurricane Harvey ravaged southeastern Texas, Trump paid the area a visit. While his response to the disaster in Houston was generally applauded, the president picked up some flack when he gave a speech outside Houston (he reportedly did not visit disaster zones), and praised the size of the crowds there AP Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... 'Little Rocket Man' During his first-ever speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Trump tried out a new nickname for North Korea leader Kim Jong-un: Rocket Man. He later tweaked it to be “little Rocket Man” as the two feuded, and threatened each other with nuclear war. During that speech, he also threatened to totally annihilate North Korea Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Attacking Sadiq Khan following London Bridge terror attack After the attack on the London Bridge, Trump lashed out at London Mayor Sadiq Khan, criticising Khan for saying there was “no reason to be alarmed” after the attack. Trump was taking the comments out of context, as Khan was simply saying that the police had everything under control Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming presenter Mika Brezinkski was 'bleeding from the face' Never one not to mock his enemies, Trump mocked MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski, saying that she and co-host Joe Scarborough had approached him before his inauguration asking to “join” him. He noted that she was “bleeding badly from a face-lift” at the time, and that he said no MSNBC Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming the blame for Charlottesville was on 'both sides' Trump refused to condemn far-right extremists involved in violence at 'the march for the right' protests in Charlottesville, even after the murder of counter protester Heather Heyer AP Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Retweeting cartoon of CNN being hit by a 'Trump train' Trump retweeted a cartoon showing a Trump-branded train running over a person whose body and head were replaced by a CNN avatar. He later deleted the retweet Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Tweeting about 'slamming' CNN Trump caught some flack when he tweeted a video showing him wrestling down an individual whose head had been replaced by a CNN avatar. Trump has singled CNN out in particular with his chants of “fake news” Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Firing head of the FBI, James Comey Trump’s firing of former FBI Director James Comey landed him with a federal investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election that has caused many a headache for the White House. The White House initially said that the decision was made after consultation from the Justice Department. Then Mr Trump himself said that he had decided to fire him in part because he wanted the Russia investigation Mr Comey was conducting to stop Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Not realising being president would be 'hard' Just three months into his presidency, Trump admitted that being president is harder than he thought it would be. Though Trump insisted on the 2016 campaign trail that doing the job would be easy for him, he admitted in an interview that living in the White House is harder than running a business empire Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Accusing Obama of wiretapping him Trump accused former president Barack Obama of wire tapping him on twitter. The Justice Department later clarified: Obama had not, in fact, done so Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming there had been 3 million 'illegal votes' Trump was never very happy about losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by 2.8 million ballots. So, he and White House voter-fraud commissioner Kris Kobach have claimed that anywhere between three and five million people voted illegally during the 2016 election. Conveniently, he says that all of those illegal votes went to Clinton. (There is no evidence to support that level of widespread voter fraud.) Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Leaving Jews out of the Holocaust memorial statement Just days after taking office, Trump’s White House issued a statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, but didn’t mention “jews” or even the word “jewish” in the written statement Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Anger over Inauguration crowd size Trump’s inauguration crowd was visibly, and noticeably, smaller than that of his predecessor, Barack Obama. But, he really wanted to have had the largest crowd on record. So, he praised it as the biggest crowd ever. Relatedly, Trump also claimed that it stopped raining in Washington at the moment he was inaugurated. It didn’t, the day was very dreary Reuters

That doesn’t guarantee impeachment, but it does give Trump grave cause for concern. In today’s dawn chorus tweet, he showed he understands why. “I never asked Comey to stop investigating Flynn. Just more Fake News covering another Comey lie!”

At this point, one could closely examine the detail of Comey’s testimony to a congressional hearing, barely challenged until now, about how Trump cleared the room of witnesses after dinner one night, isolated him, and urged him to not “to go after” Flynn.

But when it’s one person’s word against another, and one of the persons is Donald Trump, why waste the space? No reasonable person doubts that he first leaned on Comey, and then sacked him for disobeying an order framed, mafioso-style, as a request. If he did that knowing Flynn had broken the law, as he admits, the odds against him breaking new ground by granting a presidential pardon to himself.

So ends another tempestuous week in the eye of the Trumpnado. Retweeting Britain First’s Islamophoic propaganda films, misaddressing his reply to the Prime Minister’s rebuke to a Bognor housewife, dissing the Fifth in favour of wilful self-incrimination, and perjuring himself once again in the court of public opinion by accusing an honest man of lying. Behold the leader of the free world to whose good graces the non-Bognor Theresa May has seen fit to entrust our post-Brexit hopes of economic salvation.

There never was a prospect of a quick and generous trade deal with the US. Trade deals are never quick, and the United States is never generous in its commercial dealings with foreign powers on imaginary grounds of sentimental attachment. The one special thing about this relationship since 1945 is that they always take and we always give.

But since the flaw that defines Trump more clearly than infantile narcissism, proudful ignorance, default mendacity or hideous gluttony happens to be grudge-bearing vindictiveness, there is now every prospect of either no deal or a terrible deal being struck if this supersize-lies-with-everything McDonald’s presidency endures.

Not lovin’ it, a patriotic British Prime Minister would instruct MI6 to give Mueller whatever help it can in unravelling the special relationships with Russian businessmen that long predate his political career.