Of all the myriad criticisms leveled at Donald Trump since his political career began in earnest over two years ago, it turns out that the characterization that may have finally broken his spirit is the one that referred to him as a giant manbaby running amok in an otherwise-deserted adult day care center. The latest from Gabriel Sherman at Vanity Fair does not portray the President of the United States as a man who is in, shall we say, a good place right now.

[I]t’s clear that Bob Corker’s remarkable New York Times interview—in which the Republican senator described the White House as “adult day care” and warned Trump could start World War III—was an inflection point in the Trump presidency. It brought into the open what several people close to the president have recently told me in private: that Trump is “unstable,” “losing a step,” and “unraveling.”

Are there details about Trump's bona fide temper tantrums in which he reportedly used language so absurdly childish language that, were you to hear a character in a literal children's television show utter those same words, would cause you to shake your head in disappointment and declare that the writers have been getting lazier by the episode? There are!

According to two sources familiar with the conversation, Trump vented to his longtime security chief, Keith Schiller, “I hate everyone in the White House!"

[Jared Kushner's face turns ashen.]

"There are a few exceptions, but I hate them!”

[Some of the color re-appears, and then drains just as quickly.]

Sherman, of course, is a professional, and was duty-bound to reach out to the Trump administration and ask them to confirm or deny whether the commander-in-chief had indeed openly expressed his hatred for everyone who works for him, and, perhaps, whether he had followed up this proclamation by stamping up the stairs to his bedroom and loudly and performatively slamming the door behind him.

(A White House official denies this.)

Oh. Elsewhere in the report, bewildered, weary Trump confidants describe him as a man who has "lost a step" and who understands, in the aftermath of the embarrassing loss of the Alabama Senate candidate he backed, that his "cult of personality is broken." Before departing the White House earlier this summer, Steve Bannon reportedly warned Trump that his own Cabinet was a threat to remove him from office. (This may shock you, but Trump apparently had no idea what the 25th Amendment was.) When asked for comment on all of this, an unnamed White House spokesperson nonchalantly replied, "The President's mood is good and his outlook on the agenda is very positive," presumably while Sarah Huckabee Sanders mouthed furious threats of termination until she was sure the line had disconnected.

At this point, breathless reports of palace intrigue and a teetering-on-the-brink Trump have become so commonplace that it's foolish to get too hopeful that some form of change—at least, the good kind of change, in which Donald Trump isn't president anymore—is around the corner. And while it's tempting to revel in the knowledge that he's turning into a disgruntled nihilist who hates this just as much as we do, he still wields more power than any disgruntled nihilist should ever possess, which is not great news for as long as he manages to remain in office.

Much has been made of late of Twitter's decision to offer users twice its longtime 140-character limit, but the following draft text, borrowed from another famous presidential letter and preserved here should Donald Trump ever have use for it, is only 107 characters, including spaces. (Longer if he elects to use an electronic signature, which may or may not be legally binding when delivered via tweet. I'm not sure.)

October 12, 2017

Dear Mr. Secretary:

I hereby resign the Office as President of the United States.

Sincerely,

[Donald J. Trump]

Something to think about.

Watch Now:

What Mike Pence's Cynical Anthem Stunt Cost