Donald Trump's Legal Battles 'Wearing Him Down'—Defense Attorney

A prominent defense attorney said he believes former President Donald Trump is struggling to cope with the demands of fighting extensive legal battles and managing a long-running political campaign.

Ron Filipkowski told MSNBC show The 11th Hour that close observers of Trump will notice visible signs of potential health problems afflicting the former president.

"If you observe Trump closely, you'll see that this is a man who is physically and mentally unraveling before our eyes," he said. "He's slurs his speech more, he sweats more, the court cases, the financial strain of the lawyers, the pace at which he is doing things is wearing him down.

"That is why he is so desperate to end this primary early."

Filipkowski was responding to Trump's Republican rival Nikki Haley's decision not to debate Ron DeSantis again without Trump being there. Trump hasn't attended any of the five Republican debates so far.

"We've had five great debates in this campaign," Haley wrote on X on January 16. "Unfortunately, Donald Trump has ducked all of them. He has nowhere left to hide. The next debate I do will either be with Donald Trump or with Joe Biden. I look forward to it."

In response, Filipkowski suggested Haley was right to call on Trump to debate ahead of the New Hampshire primaries, where independent voters can also cast their ballot. Here, Haley is polling at over 30 percent, much closer to Trump than she has been elsewhere.

Trump, who won Iowa by 30 points, is ahead on 46 percent in New Hampshire.

Filipkowski suggested it was better for Haley to stay in the race because it meant Trump would be "hemorrhaging cash" and "running out of steam."

Newsweek has approached a Trump spokesperson via email for comment.

Alex Pfeiffer, the communications director for the Make America Great Again political action committee backing Trump, suggested Haley and DeSantis should drop out. "Every dollar spent by President Trump's primary losers is a dollar that could be fighting Joe Biden," Pfeiffer said in a statement. "Once the DC RINOs are finished crying in their cocktails over tonight's results, it's time for Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, and Vivek Ramaswamy to face reality and stop wasting time and resources."

The longer the Republican race drags on, the more likely Trump is to be fighting it amid his ongoing legal battles.

He faces 91 charges across four criminal indictments in in New York, Georgia, Florida and Washington, D.C. The first trial in the American capital is due to start on March 4, but legal wrangling over Trump's claims of immunity in the case mean this is less likely.

Trump has pleaded not guilty in all four cases and says all of the charges against him are politically motivated.

The second defamation trial involving claims brought by columnist E. Jean Carroll started this week.

Trump has denied sexually assaulting her at a Bergdorf Goodman department store in the 1990s in New York. He says he "never met, saw, or touched" Carroll.

The new trial is set to determine how much Carroll will receive in damages.

Filipkowski, now the editor-in-chief of independent news network MeidasTouch, had previously said Trump was "dragging" his right leg around as he joked with and spoke to a firefighter crew in Waukee, Iowa.

Claims made about Trump's health are all unsubstantiated. In November, the 77-year-old shared a report he said was from his physician, which said his cognitive health was "exceptional."