Trump says “most people” would “rather have a dictator” in the Oval Office

President Donald Trump has heard concerns that he behaves like a dictator. On Tuesday, he questioned whether that’s such a bad thing.

During a Cabinet meeting in the White House, Trump described criticisms of his decision to deploy the National Guard in Washington, D.C.

“So the line is that I’m a dictator, but I stop crime,” he said. “So, a lot of people say, you know, ‘If that’s the case, I’d rather have a dictator.’ But I’m not a dictator. I just had to stop crime.”

It was the second time in as many days that Trump invoked the term.

“And 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,” he said Monday, while signing an executive order directing agencies to prosecute anybody who burns an American flag. “I don’t like a dictator. I’m not a dictator. I’m a man with great common sense, and I’m a smart person.”

Speaking on Tuesday, the president criticized Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, arguing that violent crime in Chicago was out of control and “most people” believe that “if [Trump] can stop crime, he can be whatever he wants.”

Trump has repeatedly threatened to deploy other states’ National Guard in response to supposed crime problems in major American cities. While badmouthing Pritzker, he said he’d hoped for a little gratitude from the governor after Trump suggested deploying the military on the streets of Chicago.

“I would have much more respect for Pritzker if he called me up and said, ‘I have a problem. Can you help me fix it?” he said. “It would be nice if they’d call.”

Pritzker has repeatedly rejected any federal intervention in Chicago.

“There is a law on the books, confirmed by the Constitution, called ‘posse comitatus,’” Pritzker told reporters earlier this month. “It means that the federal government does not have the right to send soldiers into American cities…for any purpose.”

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On Tuesday, Trump said that he has “the right to do anything [he wants] to do” to fight crime.

“I’m the president of the United States. If I think our country is in danger, and it is in danger in these cities, I can [deploy troops],” he said.

Trump: “The line is that I’m a dictator, but I stop crime. So a lot of people say, ‘You know, if that’s the case, I’d rather have a dictator.'” pic.twitter.com/YZlFDZs9lq

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 26, 2025