He has long consoled himself with the mantra that there was “no collusion,” “no collusion,” “no collusion.” But in a manner that’s entirely legal, not to mention an echo of President Bill Clinton’s experience, the investigation has traveled in additional directions and examined additional wrongdoing.

Having subpoenaed the Trump Organization, Mueller and his team now possess his business records. Having executed a warrant for material in the possession of Michael Cohen, federal officials will sift through the secrets of an insider who is not just Trump’s lawyer but also his longtime fixer and friend.

Even though Cohen is the apparent focus of their interest, Trump, too, must feel hideously exposed. This is a man who refused, despite intense pressure, to release his tax returns, as candidates before him had done. Now information that may be much more private, and much more damning, is in strangers’ hands.

A single sentence in a story about the Cohen raid by my colleague Matt Apuzzo brilliantly hinted at Trump’s vantage point, from which he sees any moat around him vanishing and his castle under siege. Apuzzo wrote: “His longtime lawyer is being investigated in Manhattan; his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is facing scrutiny by prosecutors in Brooklyn; his former campaign chairman is under indictment; his former national security adviser has pleaded guilty to lying; and a pair of former campaign aides are cooperating with Mr. Mueller.”

It’s in that context that Trump, during a meeting that was supposed to be about Syria, went on and on about the “disgrace” (he used that word seven times) of Mueller’s investigation, toyed with the idea of getting rid of him, excoriated Jeff Sessions anew, once again branded James Comey a liar and, for good measure, kicked around Hillary Clinton some more.

It was the full martyr complex and all the greatest hits in one meltdown. Mike Pence sat stone-faced on one side of him, John Bolton without much expression on the other. It’s hard to imagine either of them having the rapport with Trump to calm him down.