IT was my own fault. I should have heeded the rule that no smarty-pants deed goes unpunished. But you live and learn, as the friendly frog said while half way down the boa constrictor.

The idea was sound enough. Since Donald Trump largely conducts his business through tweets, it made sense to set an alert on the computer to signal when one arrived.

But then the computer shared this instruction with the phone, which passed it to the laptop, which sent it to the iPad. So now, when a tweet lands late at night in Washington, crack of dawn here, there is a torrent of rings and pings and other noises. Such is the cacophony I've taken to running around, Quasimodo-like, hands over ears, shouting, “The bells, the bells!”

It has been a typically busy week for The Donald. After he stripped security clearance from John Brennan, the former CIA chief, the President was accused by one admiral of using “McCarthy-era tactics” against critics. This was not just any old admiral, but William H McRaven, who led the raid in which Osama bin Laden was killed.

In a letter to the president published in the Washington Post, Mr McRaven said he would “consider it an honour” if Mr Trump would revoke his security clearance also.

He went on: “Like most Americans, I had hoped that when you became president, you would rise to the occasion and become the leader this great nation needs. A good leader tries to embody the best qualities of his or her organization. A good leader sets the example for others to follow. A good leader always puts the welfare of others before himself or herself.

“Your leadership, however, has shown little of these qualities. Through your actions, you have embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage and, worst of all, divided us as a nation.” Leave it to a military man to deliver a grade-A carpeting. It is even more terrifying if you imagine the words being yelled by Jack Nicholson's colonel character in A Few Good Men.

Ever the multitasker, The Donald chose the same week to start a fight with former aide and Apprentice contestant Omarosa Manigault Newman, whose new book is delicately titled: Unhinged: An Insider Account of the Trump White House. While doing the publicity rounds, Ms Manigault Newman claimed a recording existed of Mr Trump using the “N-word” while filming the reality show.

Goodness, the bells rang out that day, with Mr Trump vehemently denying her claim and praising her former boss for “quickly firing that dog”. That is not the sort of thing an officer, or a gentleman, or a President, should say to any woman. He has done the same with men, saying former opponent Mitt Romney had choked “like a dog”, and claiming Steve Bannon, another ex-aide, had been "dumped like a dog by almost everyone”.

What kind of impact does all this bad publicity have? On the face of it, very little. Mr Trump continues to revel in his reputation as the president who cannot be tamed. Since stepping foot in the White House he has been assailed by criticism and caught up in scandal. Rows break out not just weekly or daily, but hourly. Yet there he goes, the Teflon Don, opprobrium sliding off him like a greasy egg.

If anything, the criticism only serves to make him more popular with his supporters. One of the most powerful people on the planet has fashioned himself as the plucky underdog, taking on the liberal elite and their “fake news” media, and is getting away with it.

One poll out this week even suggests he is thriving on the mayhem. CNN looked at the approval ratings of past presidents at the point in their terms where Mr Trump is now. What do you know: he has managed to move up the table for the first time. He is no longer, as CNN says, “the least popular president at this point in his term”. He has a 42% rating, topping Reagan, 41%, Clinton, 39%, and Carter, 39%. Top of the table was HW Bush with 74% in 1990.

All that may change when Robert Mueller reveals the results of his investigation into alleged Russian tampering in the 2016 election. As skilful as Mr Trump has been in shrugging off criticism, and regardless of how much effort he has expended trying to discredit the investigation, the Mueller findings will be a very big deal indeed, the biggest Mr Trump has faced. If the special counsel does as many Americans want and publishes his findings before the November midterms, an already close contest will become even more so.

Despite the din of the bells, now is not the time for silence.