President Donald Trump has suggested that many Americans would like to live in a dictatorship, as he gave himself broader powers to expand his crime crackdown across the country.
Three weeks into his federal takeover in Washington D.C., the president signed new executive orders tasking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to establish “specialized units” in the National Guard to assist officers in the city, and potentially across the country, to quell civil disturbances and boost public safety “whenever the circumstances necessitate.”
The move has already prompted a backlash, with critics saying it is “abhorrent” to deploy military units to essentially “watch” citizens on their streets.
“It reminds me so much of what happened in Germany in the 1930s,” Major General Randy Manner, the former acting vice chief of the National Guard Bureau, told CNN.
However, speaking in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump insisted he was not a dictator—even though, according to him, many people wouldn’t mind if he was.
“A lot of people are saying maybe we’d like a dictator,” Trump told reporters.
“I don’t like a dictator. I’m not a dictator. I’m a man with common sense and a very smart person.”
Trump’s executive order also authorizes Attorney General Pam Bondi to unwind metropolitan police orders in D.C. if she believes they are impeding the administration’s crackdown.
In addition, federal agencies will be given more power to surge officers into the capital, potentially adding to the thousands of troops that have already been deployed.
The president also said he wanted Congress to codify his changes, which would make it legally binding.
“I think they’ll do it,” he said.
The new clampdown comes as daily protests continue across D.C. in response to Trump’s federal takeover, which residents believe is a manufactured crisis so the president can expand his authority to other U.S. cities.
The executive orders were made during a meandering rant in which Trump attacked the media as “corrupt” for unfavorable coverage of his actions; falsely claimed “most” D.C restaurants had been empty until he intervened; and celebrated 11 days without a homicide in Washington.
But while Trump claimed such a streak hadn’t happened in “years,” figures show D.C. already had several weeks this year without a homicide, including a stretch in late February and March, according to police statistics.
Trump has now set his sights on Democrat led cities such as Chicago, Baltimore, and New York.
But while the president says guards are ready to be deployed, he would rather “be asked to go” rather than “barge in on a city and then be treated horribly by corrupt politicians and bad politicians.”
The Democratic leaders of those cities are highly unlikely to make such a request, insisting, just as D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has, that there is no public safety emergency to warrant such actions.
“The city of Chicago is not calling for American troops to occupy American cities,” said Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. “It’s not democratic. It’s unconstitutional.”
Trump’s crime crackdown in the nation’s capital now enters its third week, with National Guard Troops being armed as they wander the streets of D.C. with police, FBI agents, and other federal law enforcement officials.
The guards, who will mostly carry standard-issue M17 pistols, although a handful will carry M4 assault rifles, have been authorized to use their weapons to protect themselves and “as a last resort” if there’s an imminent threat.
Asked how long he plans to leave troops in Washington and what he’s preparing for Chicago, Trump did not directly answer, instead telling reporters: “I really want to be appreciated.”
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