--- title: Trump Says He's No Dictator—Years After Obama Said Same as Joke description: “I am not a dictator,” Obama joked in 2013. Trump has said twice he's not a dictator, while suggesting that's what Americans actually want. canonical: https://time.com/7312463/trump-dictator-comment-fires-cook/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-08-26T19:41:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-11T00:10:18.859Z article:section: Politics og:title: Obama Joked He Wasn't a 'Dictator.' When Trump Says It, No One's Laughing og:description: “I am not a dictator, I'm the President," Obama said in 2013. og:url: https://time.com/7312463/trump-dictator-comment-fires-cook/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta8e051b4eb7df9a7/6998c95047fe51862d55c03f/GettyImages-2231518432.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-TRUMP-CABINET og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama Joked He Wasn't a 'Dictator.' When Trump Says It, No One's Laughing twitter:description: “I am not a dictator, I'm the President," Obama said in 2013. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta8e051b4eb7df9a7/6998c95047fe51862d55c03f/GettyImages-2231518432.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 12 Years Ago, Obama Joked He Wasn't a 'Dictator.' When Trump Says It, No One's Laughing  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Aug 26, 2025 7:41 PM UTC  President Donald Trump is seen during a cabinet meeting in which he insisted, "I'm not a dictator," at the White House in Washington, DC, on August 26, 2025. President Donald Trump is seen during a cabinet meeting in which he insisted, "I'm not a dictator," at the White House in Washington, DC, on August 26, 2025.Mandel Ngan—AFP via Getty Images  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Aug 26, 2025 7:41 PM UTC _This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up_ [_here_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite) _to get stories like this sent to your inbox._ When Barack Obama said in 2013 he was no dictator, it felt oddly reassuring, a moment of humility when the President bowed to reality that he was not in total control of Washington and could not browbeat his political opponents into submission. When Donald Trump said the same thing on Monday, the context couldn’t have been more different. “I am not a dictator,” Obama [said](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rilkLOw4DVk) in the White House briefing room more than a decade ago, responding to a question about not getting what he wanted out of Congress. “I’m the President.” Just this week, Trump [offered](https://time.com/7312196/trump-americans-maybe-we-like-a-dictator/) his own version of that: “I’m not a dictator. I’m a man with great common sense and a smart person.” Similar words. Completely different timbre. In the last week alone, Trump has [dispatched](https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/08/26/dc-crime-neighborhoods-trump-federal-takeover/) roving armed patrols of Washington while suggesting Chicago and New York are next; one of his former National Security Advisers, who has emerged as a persistent critic, saw his office [sacked](https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-trumps-washington/the-retribution-phase-of-trumps-presidency-has-begun); and another Trump-ally-turned-skeptic, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, faced the [threat](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/08/25/trump-chris-christie-bridgegate/) of a federal [investigation](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/25/donald-trump-chris-christie-bridgegate-00522660?utm%5Fcontent=politico/magazine/Politics&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=flipboard) into events from over a decade ago. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who in March was wrongfully expelled to his birthplace of El Salvador and then returned to the United States to face criminal charges, got [nabbed](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/us/politics/kilmar-abrego-garcia-arrested-ice-deportation.html) again on Monday and may soon be deported to Uganda. The Smithsonian was put on [notice](https://www.npr.org/2025/08/24/nx-s1-5511241/smithsonian-white-house-art) about which exhibits needed a President-approved [reprogramming](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/us/politics/trump-smithsonian-black-history.html)—a primo example of warping a national narrative to fit a leader’s preferred politics. Trump also said he was [firing](https://time.com/7312213/lisa-cook-trump-fire-federal-reserve-governor-mortgage-fraud-powell-interest-rates/) Lisa Cook, a governor of the politically independent Federal Reserve, a move destined to face a test in courts but in the meantime undermines trust in the most influential central bank in the world. In the same arena, Trump signed an executive [order](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/08/26/trump-flag-burning-supreme-court-texas-johnson/) that seemed intended to set off a Supreme Court fight over flag burning. He also wrongly [suggested](https://time.com/7312097/trump-abc-nbc-media-threats/) he could take ABC and NBC off the air, and [announced](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/us/politics/trump-intel-economy-strategy.html) the United States was taking an $11 billion piece of chip maker Intel on behalf of the American people, his latest claw for a government stake in a private company. This is, it must be said, not how a healthy democracy functions. Yet here we are. Across the country, universities and major law firms are trying to dodge Trump’s ire, offering up millions in concessions in the forms of kickbacks and _pro bono_ hours of lawyering. In Washington, menacing military vehicles are [parked](https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/24/politics/national-guard-dc-weapons) outside Union Station, the transportation hub whose main entrance is known for sending visitors out onto a park with postcard-worthy views of the U.S. Capitol, while roving trios of National Guard members patrol the popular retail stretch of 14th Street Northwest. Caravans of law enforcement vehicles are looping around neighborhoods, while parents are [wary](https://time.com/7311513/trump-washington-dc-immigration-school-national-guard/) of what federal law enforcement might do outside their kids’ schools. And, unprompted, Trump on Monday—while sitting with the nuclear-threatened South Korean President at the White House—offered [praise](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/08/25/trump-south-korea-president-visit/) for the dictator running North Korea. “I look forward to meeting with Kim Jong-un in the appropriate future,” Trump said. Taken as a sum, we are in a moment where not just the rules but even many laws governing Washington seem to be fungible. Twelve years ago, Obama was mocking his critics when he said he was no dictator. Trump? He’s trolling, but in a completely different register. While insisting on Monday that he’s not a dictator, Trump noted “A lot of people are saying, ‘Maybe we like a dictator.’” A day later, during a Cabinet meeting, he mused, "The line is that I'm a dictator—but I stop crime. So if that’s the case, I'd rather have a dictator. But I'm not a dictator, I just know how to stop crime." Trump began [hinting](https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/05/trump-dictator-day-one-00130310) that dictatorships might not be so bad since an early leg of his most recent campaign. “We love this guy,” Trump said during a Fox News appearance then. “He says, ‘You’re not going to be a dictator, are you?’ I said: ‘No, no, no, other than day one. We’re closing the border, and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator.’” Well, we are long past “day one” but the fear of autocracy has not faded. From the start of his successful return to power, Trump has tinged his remarks with a tint of vengeance. “In 2016, I declared I am your voice. Today, I add, I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution,” he said in 2023. Those close to Trump have long predicted this dystopian hellscape. “Trump really only cares about retribution for himself, and it will consume much of a second term,” wrote John Bolton, the National Security Adviser who last week had his Maryland home [raided](https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-trumps-washington/the-retribution-phase-of-trumps-presidency-has-begun?%5Fsp=380a1261-d9c4-4a49-9f9f-a654a9644fc9.1756225701546). Piling on, Christie told ABC News that Americans were warned. “You were told this. You were told that this was what he was going to do. And not by me, by Donald Trump during the 2024 campaign,” the former New Jersey Governor said. “He told you that he was going to do this, that he was going to have a Justice Department that acted as his personal legal representation.” Doubt it? Just ask California Congressman Adam Schiff, who led the first of two impeachment trials of Trump, or New York Attorney General Letitia James, who successfully prosecuted Trump in a civil-fraud case; [both](https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/donald-trump-letitia-james-subpoenas-rcna224310) now have federal cases open against them. For his part, Trump has never denied the aim. “Well, revenge does take time. I will say that,” Trump [told](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-guilty-verdict-revenge-retribution-rcna155743) talk show host Dr. Philin June of last year. “And sometimes revenge can be justified.” Trump’s authoritarian flexing has snowballed to the point where it’s hard to keep track. There are moments of ridiculous vibes, like when Trump [suggests](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/news/trump-kennedy-center-rename-b2812986.html) he could rename the Kennedy Center in his honor. But there are also moments that demand pause, such as when he [wants](https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2025/08/26/trump-war-department-defense-rename/) the Pentagon renamed to the Department of War. The fact that we are even debating how far the country has shifted says volumes. When Richard Nixon in 1973 [told](https://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/nixon-says-hes-not-a-crook-nov-17-1973-231309) newspaper editors gathered at Disney that he was no crook, the world shrugged. A half-century later when Trump says he is not an autocrat, audiences are left wondering if he’s making a promise or protesting too much. _Make sense of what matters in Washington._ [_Sign up for the D.C. Brief newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7312463/trump-dictator-comment-fires-cook/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7312463/trump-dictator-comment-fires-cook/"},"headline":"12 Years Ago, Obama Joked He Wasn't a 'Dictator.' When Trump Says It, No One's Laughing","datePublished":"2025-08-26T19:41:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-11T00:10:18.859Z","description":"“I am not a dictator, I'm the President,\" Obama said in 2013.","url":"https://time.com/7312463/trump-dictator-comment-fires-cook/","keywords":["The D.C. 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