Donald Trump Claims ‘a Lot of’ Americans Are Saying They Want a Dictator Because Of

Donald Trump has responded strongly to those who criticize his decision to take control of Washington, D.C.’s police force and deploy the National Guard to patrol the city. He claims his actions are necessary to stop crime and restore order, but his approach has drawn accusations of authoritarianism, with some calling him a “dictator.”

Speaking from the Oval Office on August 25, Trump defended his decision to sign new executive orders, including one that instructs Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to create a special National Guard unit responsible for “ensuring public safety” in the nation’s capital. He argued that rather than being praised for addressing crime, he is being unfairly attacked for trying to bring order to the city.

Trump dismissed his critics as “sick” and said they accuse him of trampling freedom and acting like a dictator. He also claimed that “a lot of people” have told him they would prefer a strong leader who can effectively stop crime, even if some call that dictatorial. Trump insisted he is not a dictator but rather “a man with great common sense” who knows how to deal with lawlessness.

The following day, during a Cabinet meeting, he repeated this argument, saying people see results and would rather have a leader who stops crime, even if opponents call him a dictator.

Earlier this month, Trump had announced that he was taking over the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and deploying the National Guard, along with federal agents from the FBI, Border Patrol, and ICE, to carry out a large-scale crackdown. He appointed Attorney General Pam Bondi to oversee the city’s police and warned that he would bring in additional forces “if needed” to handle what he described as a public safety emergency.

Since this federal takeover began, arrests in Washington, D.C., have increased, but so have protests. Demonstrators have objected to the presence of military vehicles on city streets, enforced curfews in certain neighborhoods, and surprise ICE checkpoints. In Dupont Circle, protesters surrounded by a National Guard Humvee chanted warnings about what they viewed as growing authoritarian control.

Trump has said the takeover, initially planned for 30 days, will likely be extended and may serve as a model for other major U.S. cities like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. He promised that the results would make cities cleaner, safer, and more patriotic, saying people would come to “love the flag more than they’ve ever loved it.”

This sweeping action was launched even as official D.C. data showed a significant drop in violent crime over the past 18 months. Trump has dismissed those statistics, claiming without evidence that they were falsified to hide the true level of crime.

Critics argue that Trump’s moves amount to an unnecessary and dangerous overreach of federal power, while his supporters see them as a strong response to urban crime and homelessness. The debate over whether this represents decisive leadership or a step toward authoritarian control is likely to intensify as Trump pushes to expand this strategy beyond the nation’s capital.