Rebecca:

You’ve heard by now that Donald Trump revealed classified information … to Russian officials … in the Oval Office?

Here’s how it reportedly went down:

In his meeting with Lavrov, Trump seemed to be boasting about his inside knowledge of the looming threat. “I get great intel. I have people brief me on great intel every day,” Trump said, according to an official with knowledge of the exchange.

For Pete’s sake.

Let’s acknowledge the story’s just broken, and that further facts may reshape this scoop. What follows remains the case regardless.

It’s been apparent since before he took office — really, since the 1980s, at least — that Trump is a narcissistic, insecure braggart whose personality traits would’ve made him a Darwin Award winner long ago, were it not for the fortune his daddy bequeathed to him.

Before the election, I wrote that Trump’s temperament — maybe more than any of his loathsome policy positions — would be his downfall:

Understand: Probably all politicians (and writers) are narcissistic to an embarrassing degree. The smart ones put that self-regard to the service of a broader agenda, one that benefits the people that they represent.

The, uh, less smart politicians have a two-year-old’s sense of object permanence, unable to see past the irritation in front of them to take the long view. And that leads to trouble.

With Trump, we know. We know exactly what we’re getting and … we know exactly how that story ends.

Nothing that’s happened since the election has altered that assessment, or the prospect of the likely end. We’ve crossed the line. The man cannot be trusted with the office. Even if it means we get a near-full term of President Mike Pence (ugh!) it’s time to to begin pushing for his removal.

—Joel