Jędrzej Bielecki: Donald Trump Appeared Humble in Court

A jury of randomly selected Washington residents will decide the fate of the former president. And few of them are Republicans. So it is better for Trump to come across as a respectful politician during the trial.

We haven’t known him like this before. On Thursday evening Warsaw time, Donald Trump waited patiently for 20 minutes for the judge to arrive n a small courtroom in Washington. He lowered his gaze every time Special Counsel Jack Smith looked at him. He sat on the defendant’s bench when he was allowed to do so. He leaned into the microphone to answer the questions slowly and clearly. He listened attentively to the judge’s statements.

Barely a day earlier, the former president had played his traditional role of a super macho man. He called Smith an “abnormal” prosecutor. He asserted that the charge of attempted coup is just a way for Joe Biden to push through the elimination of a rival.

Why Trump Changed So Much in Court

But in the courtroom, the rules of the game are different than in increasingly populist American politics. Here, Trump was formally in custody, from which Jamaica-born Judge Tanya Chutkan could not release him. And now she can conduct the trial, select witnesses and schedule hearings in such a way that will not only destroy the Republican’s campaign, but will also greatly increase the risk that he will go to prison for the rest of his life.

For now, we can wish that Polish politicians would be held accountable in a similar way.

On top of that, a jury of randomly selected Washington residents will decide the former president’s fate. And few of them are Republicans. So it is better for Trump to come across as a respectful politician.

The Power of American Justice

In Poland, we can only envy America such strong institutions that ensure the rule of law. We can only wish that one day the politicians who not only attempted but in fact violated the Constitution will be held to account in a similar way. But American democracy is seven times older than Poland’s, and has had far more opportunities to learn how fundamental it is to preserve an independent and strong judiciary.