Back when Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman was testifying in President Trump’s impeachment trial, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) infamously labeled him “Vindictive Vindman” and baselessly speculated that he had assisted the whistleblower who touched off the Ukraine scandal.

Now that the trial is over, Trump is getting vindictive with Vindman and a fellow impeachment witness.

Vindman was escorted from the White House on Friday after being removed from his post on the National Security Council, along with his brother, Eugene. Trump then fired European Union Ambassador Gordon Sondland, who also provided key testimony in the impeachment inquiry. And as The Washington Post reported earlier, the White House is also looking to punish others who provided testimony that was unhelpful to him during the House’s impeachment inquiry.

What’s remarkable about the Vindman retribution, though, is how unnecessary and symbolic it is. Vindman has already said he would leave his current post very soon; Trump apparently wanted to expedite that just to make an example of him -- and then he threw on top of it the removal of Vindman’s twin brother, Eugene, who was not an impeachment witness.

That message has permeated Trump’s presidency: If you do something Trump doesn’t like, he will make you pay for it. He will not only exact potential professional revenge and/or criticize you, but he will turn half the country — and the conservative media apparatus Trump has in his back pocket — against you. He will make it immensely painful for anyone who dares to say a negative word about him.

He’s done it most notably with John McCain, repeatedly deriding him even in death for his decisive vote against the GOP health-care bill. That serves notice that not only will Trump criticize you harshly, but he’s willing to shred societal mores like not speaking ill of the dead to forever damage your legacy.

It’s tempting to view all of this as Trump just being vindictive, but it’s also him being strategic about showing the price one pays for betraying him. And to the extent Trump’s supporters don’t judge him harshly for going too far, it pays off for him — in spades.