I would consider a pardon for his resignation at this point, just to get him out, even if it means a President Pence, and I am no fan of Pence at all.
I was initially willing to take the wait-and-see approach with Trump. And in some respects, I was actually cautiously optimistic that Trump would turn out to be more of a center-line pragmatist. I expected a fair number of novice mistakes, but I felt that if he could hire the right people around him, maybe, just maybe this little experiment could work and he might even turn out to be a pleasant surprise.
It took a matter of weeks to dispel me of these notions for good. Trump's tone and his appointments have made it clear that he is completely motivated by his own narcissism and nothing else. The fact that he isn't an ideologue means little because extremist and fringe elements in our society have sensed in Trump an opportunity to have a seat at the table of presidential power for doing nothing more than praising him and appealing to his grandiose ego. The evangelicals realized this early on, which is why they supported him over more tried and true conservatives like Ted Cruz. The white nationalists realized this, which is why people like David Duke now actually seem relevant.
Trump is by no means the first president to believe in the supremacy of the Executive Branch but he's one of the few presidents who's been openly hostile to the institutions that support our Constitutionally enshrined principles as a democratic republic. But I'd argue that he's even more dangerous than Nixon because Nixon didn't have a corrupt congressional majority to enable him and his worst impulses. Many in congress are simply too concerned with their own ambitions and too timid to confront him. Quite a few Republicans in congress actually share a sense of contempt for these institutions and safeguards as well and are complicit in their attempted destruction. Their folly is that they believe they'd be able to control a powerful Executive once they break down these institutions, but a pluralistic congress wouldn't stand a chance.
Trump is like a federalist but a federalist who wants a submissive congress and judiciary that behaves like a puppet. He wants to run government the way he runs his businesses and he wants to have the power to run over anyone who gets in his path. He has no sense of consequences, no sense of reckoning. And yet he has awesome powers at his disposal. Trump is doing severe damage to my country, to its institutions, to its reputation, and to its standing in the world.