--- title: Trump Suggests Americans Open to a ‘Dictator’ description: Trump added that he wouldn’t describe himself as a dictator. canonical: https://time.com/7312196/trump-americans-maybe-we-like-a-dictator/ author: Chad de Guzman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-08-26T04:45:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:50:10.175Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Suggests Americans Open to a ‘Dictator’ og:description: Trump added that he wouldn’t describe himself as a dictator. og:url: https://time.com/7312196/trump-americans-maybe-we-like-a-dictator/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb25ecd4f9bf00c07/6998c94ae1ba00535998dd94/trump-oval-office.png?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: trump-oval-office og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Suggests Americans Open to a ‘Dictator’ twitter:description: Trump added that he wouldn’t describe himself as a dictator. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb25ecd4f9bf00c07/6998c94ae1ba00535998dd94/trump-oval-office.png?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # ‘Maybe We Like a Dictator’: Trump Suggests Many Americans Would Prefer Autocracy > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=f032c74c-e7fe-4af4-abdd-75b1c434f67b&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: "Maybe We Like a Dictator": Trump Suggests Many Americans Would Prefer Autocracy [Watch (HLS stream): "Maybe We Like a Dictator": Trump Suggests Many Americans Would Prefer Autocracy](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Xu7u4dx2.m3u8) (1:08)  _Published 2025-08-26. President Donald Trump said Monday that he thinks Americans may like a “dictator,” though he wouldn’t describe himself as one._  by [Chad de Guzman](https://time.com/author/chad-de-guzman/)  ## Chad de Guzman Reporter Aug 26, 2025 4:45 AM UTC  Vice President J.D. Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stand behind President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 25, 2025. Vice President J.D. Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stand behind President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 25, 2025. Al Drago—Bloomberg/Getty Images  by [Chad de Guzman](https://time.com/author/chad-de-guzman/)  ## Chad de Guzman Reporter Aug 26, 2025 4:45 AM UTC President Donald Trump said Monday that he thinks Americans may like a “dictator,” though he wouldn’t describe himself as one. “They say: ‘We don’t need him. Freedom, freedom, he’s a dictator, he’s a dictator,’” Trump told reporters at the Oval Office. “A lot of people are saying, ‘Maybe we like a dictator.’ I don’t like a dictator. I’m not a dictator. I’m a man with great common sense and a smart person.” Trump’s remarks came as he signed a raft of executive orders, including [one](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/08/additional-measures-to-address-the-crime-emergency-in-the-district-of-columbia/) in which he tasked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to lead the training of a specialized National Guard unit dedicated to “ensuring public safety” in Washington, D.C. **Read More:** [_D.C. Families Describe Climate of Fear as First Day of School Collides With Federal Takeover_](https://time.com/7311513/trump-washington-dc-immigration-school-national-guard/) The President’s [deployment](https://time.com/7308788/trump-washington-dc-national-guard/) of the National Guard to Washington, D.C., and threats to deploy the National Guard to [other Democratic-led cities](https://time.com/7309031/democrats-respond-trump-washington-dc-takeover-national-guard-baltimore-chicago-los-angeles-new-york-oakland/) purportedly to crack down on crime—despite [decreasing crime rates](https://time.com/7309133/dc-crime-stats-trump-national-guard/)—have raised concerns about his [authoritarian tendencies](https://time.com/7259662/king-trump-founding-fathers-constitution-monarchy-democracy-republic/) and presidential overreach. “When I see what’s happening to our cities and then you send in troops, instead of being praised, they’re saying you’re trying to take over the Republic,” Trump said of [his critics](https://time.com/7309031/democrats-respond-trump-washington-dc-takeover-national-guard-baltimore-chicago-los-angeles-new-york-oakland/). “These people are sick.” It’s not the first time Trump has rebuffed criticism of being dictator-like while also seeming to sympathize with the idea. On the campaign trail in December 2023, Trump [said](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQkrWL7YuGk&t=5s) on Fox News that he would not be a dictator “except for Day 1,” adding “after that, I’m not a dictator.” Trump clarified that 2023 remark in a [2024 TIME interview](https://time.com/6972022/donald-trump-transcript-2024-election/), saying that he said it “sarcastically” but also that he thought that “a lot of people like it.” A Public Religion Research Institute poll conducted earlier this year shows a [majority of Americans](https://www.axios.com/2025/04/29/prri-poll-most-americans-trump-dangerous-dictator) see Trump, who has repeatedly talked about the possibility of [staying in office beyond constitutional term limits](https://time.com/7222820/trump-third-term-president-explainer-pathways-constitution-courts-legal-experts/) and whose Administration has shown a [disdain for judicial oversight](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/30/us/politics/trump-legal-system.html), as a “dangerous dictator whose power should be limited before he destroys American democracy.” ## Transcript I think the Democrats better get smart. And, you know, politically, I hope they don't. But actually, in terms of love for the country, I hope they do because it would be good to work together. So I'm thinking about, you know, when I have some slob like Pritzker criticizing us before we even go there. I made the statement that next should be Chicago because as you all know, Chicago is a killing field right now, and they don't acknowledge it. 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. 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. And when I see what's happening 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. But I'm really saying. And I say this to all of you in a certain way, we should wait to be asked because they have cities that are so under control, you know, out of control. So we go in and fix it. They take the full credit for it, and they go out and say, I heard it this morning. 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