'Not a colossus': Columnist outlines 4 key signs Trump's 'iron grip' is weakening

Despite former President Donald Trump appearing certain to win the Republican nomination, danger signs show his grip on power may be weakening, Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin wrote Thursday.

"Four-times-indicted former president Donald Trump commands a strong majority of the Republican primary electorate, but signs point to his diminishing ability to control much beyond that," wrote Rubin, a former conservative who abandoned the right after Trump's takeover of the GOP.

Specifically, she argued, there are four important flashing red lights for Trump and his Republican allies.

The first is the GOP's failure in the New York special election on Tuesday, which saw Democrats reclaim the Long Island based seat of expelled Rep. George Santos after years of indications Republicans were gaining support in the area.

The second is Trump's blunders trying to influence policy in Congress, Rubin writes. Large numbers of Senate Republicans backed Ukraine aid he pushed against, and House Republicans were forced onto the defensive about tanking a deal to secure the border on his instruction, Rubin argues. This gave Democrats power over opponents on an issue Republicans usually dominate.

The third issue is a huge wave of retirements from the House, with GOP leaders, even hardcore longtime conservatives, seeming to be tired of the chaos that a Trump-loyal caucus is perpetuating.

The fourth is the oncoming prospect of Trump being forced to stand for criminal trials while he should be on the campaign trail. One of those trials, the Manhattan hush money case, appears set to start on March 25 even as Trump tries to delay and obstruct the other three.

"Trump is not the colossus that many in the media suggest," Rubin concluded.

"His iron grip on core followers does not diminish the significance of a rebellion in the ranks regarding Ukraine, his devastating blunders on that issue and the border, a parade of fed-up Republicans exiting the House and, crucially, the progress of serious felony trials. If Biden gets to face that guy, it will be the equivalent of drawing an inside straight."