The reality of being a criminal defendant on trial finally dawned on Trump. He didn't take it well.

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

47% : It's a jarring new reality for Trump, who has been accustomed to setting the agenda for most of his adult life -- and, in the years since his presidency, has bounced between his sunny Florida resort and political rallies brimming with adoring fans.
36% : "He won't allow me to leave here for a half a day to go to D.C. and go before the United States Supreme Court, because he thinks he's superior," Trump told reporters outside the courtroom.
33% : Later, on Truth Social, Trump repeated the same complaints and falsely asserted that Merchan had already ruled against him on the graduation request, even though the judge indicated he would accommodate that request if the trial remained on schedule.
33% : Of course, if Trump is convicted by the very jury that his lawyers and Manhattan prosecutors are jockeying to select, the imposition of a trial will seem trifling compared to the constraints on his liberty that Merchan might impose -- a jail term.
31% : After the first day of the trial on Monday, Trump seemed less focused on the substance of what had transpired -- which included several key evidentiary rulings and the qualification of nine potential jurors -- than on Merchan's decision not to accommodate his scheduling requests.
30% : But Trump the defendant will face stark restrictions on where he can go (and what he's allowed to say).
22% : Although Trump has been a criminal defendant for more than a year, he's rarely been required to show up to court and indeed has routinely skipped pretrial proceedings in the four criminal cases he's facing.
15% : Donald Trump is learning a hard lesson: Criminal defendants don't get to set their own schedules.

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