The Shrinking of Donald Trump

The one thing you could always say about Donald Trump was that he was "big." He commanded the stage. His vigor -- or the appearance of vigor -- made him appear younger than Joe Biden, even though they are only a few years apart. He was able to roll over scandals and missteps that would have derailed a smaller candidate.

The civil trials didn't stop him. Indeed, the media -- even the sources he reviled -- consistently celebrated his ability to turn the proceedings against him into political events, to profit from the court appearances, to raise money off of them and score political points on the courthouse steps.

All of that is changing now. Maybe it's because this is a criminal trial, where he can't pick and choose when he wants to show up. Maybe it's because he's faced with a judge who is very clearly setting the rules and not buying into the Big Man's act. Maybe it's because he doesn't get to "win" every Tuesday, demonstrating his command over a noisy minority of voters.

The Donald Trump who is sitting in a "freezing" (he's been reduced to complaining about the temperature) courtroom every day does not look like the once and future most powerful man in the world. He's shrinking. He can barely stay awake. The press keeps catching him nodding off. The judge keeps catching him smirking and whispering under his breath -- and calls him on it. When he stood up to leave as the judge was finishing his sentence at the end of a long court day, the judge admonished him to sit down. He very clearly cannot abide by the gag order; when his lawyer argued that he was trying to, the judge admonished him, telling him that he was "losing all credibility."

He sounds not like a commander in chief but like the Chief Whiner -- not only about the temperature in the courtroom but also about the fact that he is stuck in the dingy courtroom while his opponent is out there campaigning. "The Boss," as Michael Cohen reportedly called him, is used to being in charge. But criminal defendants are not in charge of anything. He had to ask for permission to attend the Supreme Court argument in the immunity case -- and he didn't get it. A Supreme Court argument, the judge acknowledged, is a big deal, but so is a criminal trial in the Supreme Court of New York. Permission denied.

It's only going to get worse. Daily descriptions of his facial expressions as he listens to damaging testimony are not going to be pretty. Listening to the former publisher of the National Enquirer recounting how Trump asked him to help his campaign by manufacturing false stories about his opponents, how he promised to be Trump's eyes and ears, and to catch and kill stories about Trump's sex life, cannot be easy for a man who is used to controlling the narrative and prone to sounding off. But Trump is on notice about sounding off. Contempt is hanging over him. Whether the judge ends up just warning him or actually imposing a fine, he has to be careful going forward, or his lawyers really will lose all credibility, which is a dangerous thing in a criminal trial. And if the publisher of the Enquirer was a challenge, imagine how tough it will be for him to listen to a Playmate and a porn star recount their sexual escapades to his face with the possibility of contempt hanging over his head if the judge concludes that he is trying to intimidate a witness. What else can he do?

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To find out more about Susan Estrich and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.