Obviously, there was no need for Trump to remind anyone that people had heard his Bergdahl comments; that’s why the press was asking him about them. Hence, his latest comment can be interpreted only one way: He wanted to make clear that he stands by his prior condemnatory remarks — as if he were making them again.

“So what?” you say. After all, you figure Bergdahl probably is a dirty, rotten traitor; plus, there is no shortage of Americans besides Trump who would see a firing squad as justice in his case. But the thing is, you and I and the rest of the peanut gallery are not the commander in chief. We are not the official to whom the military officers processing Bergdahl’s case ultimately answer. We do not get to weigh in on matters such as military promotions, assignments, and career track. Those officers have no reason to care what we think, but they have a great deal of reason to care what the president thinks. They have a motive to please him — to make sure that what the commander in chief says should be done is done.

So, when Trump pops off — when he suggests that Bergdahl is actually guilty of treason, an offense even more heinous than the serious desertion offense actually levied against him — it poses a formal threat to the integrity of the proceedings. But it gets worse. Here, Trump reaffirmed as president his Bergdahl riffs from campaign rallies despite being on notice that his comments had already jeopardized the prosecution.