Trump 'at a real disadvantage' and 'doesn't have enough lawyers' to cover his trials: NBC News reporter

Donald Trump's lawyers argued they would not have enough time to prepare for his upcoming trial in federal court in the Jan. 6 case, and legal experts agree the former president doesn't have adequate representation for all of his criminal prosecutions.

U.S. District Court judge Tanya Chutkan set a March 4 trial date on charges that Trump tried to subvert the 2020 election, and he's currently scheduled to stand trial March 25 in New York on business fraud charges and May 20 in Florida in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, and and he'll be arraigned next Wednesday in the Georgia election case.

"We've never been here before – four complex criminal trials potentially all unfolding over the next year," NBC News correspondent Ken Dilanian told MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "You know, there's a lot of bombast and hyperbole when Trump's lawyers go into court saying how long this will take. In this respect, they are correct – they have their work cut out for them here. It's just the amount of work they have to do to get ready for all four of these separate trials, plus the civil case you mentioned. There's some overlap between the legal teams, some people are different. It's just mind-boggling. Then you have Donald Trump who is going to be trying to run for president even as he is devoting some resources, because a defendant has to be involved in his own defense. You know, there are certain things only the defendant knows, so we are in for a real show next year to see how this all plays out."

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"Frankly, Donald Trump, from where I sit, doesn't appear to have enough lawyers and enough legal resources to really successfully defend all these cases in this compressed period," Dilanian added. "That's really part of the argument his lawyers were making. They've made it in both Florida and in Washington before these federal judges, that, 'Look, we need more time because we just need to get more legal resources onto this.' He's at a real disadvantage here, and that's not something to be taken lightly."

Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis has indicated she intends to take her case against Trump and his co-conspirators to trial next year, despite the former president's effort to pause the case until after the 2024 election, and MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin said judges would not be persuaded by arguments that Trump was too busy to defend himself.

"Donald Trump doesn't have enough legal resources right now, but partially that's because he keeps playing legal musical chairs," Rubin said. "Judge Chutkan made it clear yesterday, the fact, [Trump attorney John] Lauro, 'You're just coming onto this case doesn't mean Donald Trump hasn't been sitting with these allegations for a long time. I'm not going to allow this rotating cast of lawyers to be the occasion for delay here.' I think you'll see that from the other judges, as well. The fact that he can't assemble a legal team is not the judge's problem."

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