'Frustrated' Trump showing weakness as hush money trial demonstrates he's lost control

Donald Trump's inability to be out on the campaign trail due to his legal entanglements is not only hurting him in the polls, but also destroying the myth that he is the master of his own fate.

The former president has long maintained that he is always in total control and, according to Politico's Natalie Allison, both his demeanor and his complaints outside the Manhattan courthouse where he is facing 34 felony counts are indicative that he is at the mercy of things he cannot control — and he knows it.

Writing, "By the end of the first week of his criminal trial, Donald Trump had never looked more frustrated," Allison wrote that Trump being confined to the courtroom for four days a week for the foreseeable future is both weighing on him and his campaign's prospects.

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As she notes, the former president has been under the thumb of Judge Juan Merchan and it is becoming increasingly apparent to his supporters.

"Part of Trump’s strength has traditionally been the impression that he was in command, performing on his own terms," she wrote. "What became obvious in New York this week was that is no longer the case, with Trump confined to the courtroom and, on trial days, campaign events restricted to New York and its environs. At a minimum, that is limiting Trump’s ability to respond to the unfolding presidential campaign."

Adding to Trump's woes are polls showing his criminal trials are dragging down his election prospects.

"Even positive polls for Trump have more recently suggested the trial could hamper him in ways that did not previously seem as clear," Allison wrote before adding, "In a Reuters/Ipsos poll last week, 13 percent of people who said they would vote for Trump today reported they would not vote for him if he is convicted of a felony. And a Harvard Youth Poll released Thursday that showed Trump cutting into Biden’s lead with young voters also found that if Trump is convicted in any of his four criminal trials, Biden’s lead would expand."

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