Trump Suggests Americans Might 'Like a Dictator'

He Blasts Critics in Diatribe, Inks Orders to Tighten Federal Clampdown on Washington

- 

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump on Aug. 25 suggested Americans would like a dictator, as he signed orders to tighten his federal clampdown on the capital Washington and to prosecute flag burners.

In a rambling 80-minute event in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump lambasted critics and the media as he complained that he was not getting credit for his National Guard-backed crackdown on crime and immigration.

"They say 'we don't need him. Freedom, freedom. He's a dictator. He's a dictator.' A lot of people are saying: 'Maybe we like a dictator,'" Mr. Trump told reporters.

But he then insisted: "I don't like a dictator. I'm not a dictator. I'm a man with great common sense and a smart person."

Mr. Trump — who attempted to overturn the results of his 2020 election defeat by Mr. Joe Biden at the end of his first term — said before winning a second term in November 2024 that he would be a "dictator on day one."

He deployed the National Guard to Washington earlier in August to counter what he alleged was an out-of-control crime problem, also taking federal control of the city's police department.