A few days after Donald Trump began militarizing the nation’s capital, the president complained about his critics. “Already they’re saying, ‘He’s a dictator,’” he said, adding that Washington, D.C. “is going to hell, and we’ve got to stop it.”
Instead of insisting that his critics have been unnecessarily alarmist, Trump suggested his critics have missed the point: The president feels the need to improve conditions in D.C. How he chooses to pursue such a goal is far less important than the goal itself.
He didn’t say the accusations related to tyranny were wrong; he instead suggested the accusations were irrelevant. D.C. is “going to hell,” the Republican falsely claimed, so if that means acting like a “dictator,” so be it.
Eleven days later, he returned to the subject. NBC News reported:
Before signing a series of executive orders aimed at reducing crime in D.C. and across the nation, Trump referred to his critics bashing him for sending the National Guard to D.C., claiming that some people think they might ‘like a dictator.’
Referring to those opposed to his threats about deploying troops to American cities, the president, echoing his earlier rhetoric, told reporters, “They say, ‘We don’t need him. Freedom. Freedom. He’s a dictator. He’s a dictator.’”
But then he delivered a more pointed response to his detractors: “A lot of people are saying, ‘Maybe we’d like a dictator.’”
Trump: “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’…You send in troops, and instead of being praised they're saying you're trying to take over the republic. These people are sick.”
— The Bulwark (@thebulwark.com) 2025-08-25T16:25:38.536Z
To be sure, Trump didn’t describe himself as a dictator. He instead added, “I’m a man with great common sense, and I’m a smart person. And when I see what’s happened to our cities, and then you send in troops. Instead of being praised, they’re saying, ‘You’re trying to take over the republic.’ These people are sick.”
Between this, the president’s comments from nearly two weeks ago and JD Vance’s rhetoric on Fox News last week, the White House’s line is increasingly unambiguous: As far as the administration is concerned, the underlying principles about democracy, Americans’ freedom, the rule of law, the dangers of a police state and the limits on the powers of the government are meaningless. In this White House, the ends justify the means — and those who disagree are “sick.” As for Trump’s contention that “a lot” of people have voiced support for “a dictator,” I have a follow-up question for the president: “Can you name some of these people?” Ahead of Election Day 2024, Trump talked about “terminating” parts of the Constitution that stand in the way of his ambitions and creating a temporary American “dictatorship.” Months later, the relevance of that rhetoric lingers for increasingly obvious reasons. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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