Those braced for a frightening reaction from the President to developments in the Mueller investigation were even more on edge than expected this evening, when White House sources leaked that President Trump was treating aides with respect and had asked for some quiet time to reflect.

“We’ve never seen him like this. What the hell is going on?”

Theories as to why he was behaving so strangely include that he was conserving energy in advance of launching the biggest tantrum in history, while military analysts worry that he has just launched the entire nuclear arsenal and is waiting to enjoy everyone’s reaction once they realize that World War Three is underway.

“I thought the loudmouth version was scary, but serene Trump is absolutely terrifying.”

Others hypothesized that he must have something over Mueller nobody else knows about, while some wondered if Trump saw Mueller’s progress as a sweet release because he never really wanted to be President in the first place.

“That could be it, right? Please let that be it.”

The nation’s unease only grew when it emerged that the President announced that he was going to read for a while and get an early night.

“If only he’d tweet or lie or break something. Anything but this!”

BOOKS by Breaking Burgh: