The legal downside to Trump’s very political trial strategy: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill.

In today’s edition, senior legal correspondent Laura Jarrett explains how Donald Trump has already hobbled his legal team one week into his criminal trial. Plus, "Meet the Press" moderator Kristen Welker breaks down how foreign affairs has defined Joe Biden's presidency.

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How Trump has hobbled his legal team before the first witness is even called at his historic trial

By Laura Jarrett

For the better part of the last year, former President Donald Trump has sought to turn what would ordinarily amount to significant legal trouble into a political asset.

Four indictments and one mugshot later, he’s successfully managed to dodge any dip among his supporters. Yet now that he stepped into a no-frills Manhattan courtroom this week for the start of his first criminal trial, the legal downside of his political strategy has come into sharp view.

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The rules of criminal procedure don’t change, no matter the defendant, even for a former president. And the courtesies and customs recognized between seasoned prosecutors and defense lawyers begin to break down, if not completely collapse.

In a telling moment near the end of a long day in court Thursday, Trump’s lead attorney, Todd Blanche, asked if he could get the names of the first three witnesses the prosecution intends to call. That’s a routine and reasonable request. But the prosecutor, Joshua Steinglass, rebuffed him.

Why? Because “Mr. Trump has been tweeting about