In the hours running up to Saturday night’s Republican presidential debate, candidate Donald Trump took some time out to wage a dumb, pointless war with the Republican establishment.

Trump began the spat by tweeting that the Republican National Committee (RNC) had sent out a “fundraising notice” to voters that used his name without getting approval from the Trump campaign.

CBS reporter Sopan Deb got a copy of the notice, sent from RNC co-chair Sharon Day, asked for contributions from $35 to $100 to “identify yourself as one of Trump’s earliest supporters within our party.”

In a statement, Trump said the move was motivated by “Washington tricks” and added that the RNC “does not treat me well and then they use my name, without my knowledge, to raise money for themselves.” The RNC’s notice has been withdrawn, and the committee released its own statement, calling the notice a straw poll, and saying that it was used for the other candidates, too.

And thus, the latest installment in the implosion of a party, led by a man who is as impervious to the rules of the established Republican party as he is to the rules of the spectrum of visible light.

Contact the author at melissa.cronin@gawker.com.