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Ideally, the screams of infancy and the insolence of toddlerhood fade as a person grows and the scalpel of life begins sculpting away. Yes, problems still persist, but part of maturing is understanding that “he that is slow to wrath is of great understanding but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.” As the Bible story goes, King Solomon asked God for wisdom, and that proverb was among the things he told him.

Of course it’s not necessary to be a Bible follower to understand the drawbacks of hot-headedness as an adult. Social media is filled with clips of adults beating each other up for no good reason. Emotional outbursts may temporarily change a situation or cadence, but they are not a habit associated with the word “leadership” unless preceded by the phrase “a lack of.”

That’s why President Trump’s tendency to erupt at journalists and others is more than embarrassing or unprofessional. It’s informative. A decade ago, his supporters romanticized the lack of decorum as “authenticity” or “telling it like it is.” Ten years later and it’s become clear that the octogenarian suffers from a degree of arrested development, and he childishly uses outbursts the way a civil engineer uses dynamite to blast a path for new roads. The key difference being in the case of the latter, there’s a plan being executed. Trump’s two terms in office largely feature him indiscriminately blowing up situations he doesn’t like or appreciate — press conferences, ceasefire negotiations, trade discussions.

That mindset explains why the president feels comfortable placing........

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