Trump Muses About Being A Dictator

Topline

President Donald Trump said “a lot of people are saying ‘maybe we’d like a dictator,’” but insisted he isn’t one—making the bizarre comment in response to critics of his federal police takeover in Washington and plans to replicate the effort in other cities.

President Donald Trump signs a series of executive Orders in the Oval Office at the White House on August 25, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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Key Facts

Trump said “I don’t like a dictator. I’m not a dictator. I’m a man with great common sense and a smart person,” during a news-packed Oval Office press conference Monday where he signed executive orders to escalate his Washington crime crackdown.

Trump accused critics of his crime crackdowns of saying “‘freedom, freedom, he’s a dictator, he’s a dictator.’ A lot of people are saying ‘maybe we’d like a dictator,’” adding that “instead of being praised, they say ‘you’re trying to take over the republic.’”

Vice President JD Vance also blasted “Democrat governors” who he alleged are “angrier about federal law enforcement helping to clean up their streets than they are about the fact that those streets need to be cleaned up to begin with,” alleging “it shows a real sickness in the head.”

Trump made the comments after promising in recent days to replicate his Washington crime crackdown in other cities, specifically calling out Chicago and Baltimore as his next potential targets.

Chief Critics

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, accused Trump of “attempting to manufacture a crisis, politicize Americans who serve in uniform, and continue abusing his power to distract from the pain he’s causing families” in a press release blasting Trump’s suggestion he could send the National Guard to Chicago. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, also a Democrat, said in a post on X “what the President is proposing would be the most flagrant violation of our Constitution of the 21st Century.”

Tangent

Trump signed executive orders Monday designed to target cashless bail, flag burning and advance his Washington police takeover. The latter order directs the secretary of defense to establish a “specialized unit within the District of Columbia National Guard . . . to enforce Federal law” and to ensure each state’s Army and Air National Guards are “reasonably available for rapid mobilization” to assist federal, state and local law enforcement. The order addressing cashless bail mandates a review of federal funds “that may be suspended or terminated” for cities that have no-bail policies. The order pertaining to flag burning instructs the attorney general to “prioritize the enforcement to the fullest extent possible of our Nation’s criminal and civil laws against acts of American Flag desecration.”

Key Background

Trump announced earlier this month a takeover of the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department under the Home Rule Act that directs the city’s mayor to provide the president with police assistance for 30 days when “special conditions of an emergency exist,” unless Congress approves an extension. Trump has claimed crime and homelessness are out of control in the capital and other major cities, despite violent crime reaching a 30-year low in Washington last year, according to the Justice Department. In addition to the federal partnership with local police, Trump deployed hundreds of National Guard troops in Washington to assist with the federal crackdown. Trump can’t replicate the federal takeover of local police in other cities, but he could deploy the National Guard under the Insurrection Act without permission from a state.