I thought the trust and faith so many had placed in him in 2016 would mitigate some of his worst instincts.
I think it emboldened them instead. He has never been pettier, more thin-skinned, more irrational, and undisciplined. It is always about Trump.
Just look at the ridiculous struggle session everyone has been engaged in over the past 72 hours. Trump's people have been demanding your unqualified support. It's not enough to condemn the overreach and selective prosecution of the Soros-infested Brooklyn DA's office; you have to pretend Trump didn't actually pay off a pornstar or "you are not rising to the occasion."
I disagree it comes from being thin-skinned, as much as it is that Trump believes this is what works for him.