Trump suggests Americans ‘like a dictator’ as he signs Washington clampdown

Trump complained that he was not getting credit for his National Guard-backed crackdown on crime and immigration in the US capital

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Soldier patrol outside the National Guard’s headquarters at the DC Armoury near the Washington Monument on Monday. Photo: Getty Images/AFP

Published: 3:57am, 26 Aug 2025Updated: 9:22am, 26 Aug 2025

US President Donald Trump on Monday suggested Americans would like a dictator as he signed orders to tighten his federal clampdown on the capital Washington and to prosecute flag-burners.

In a rambling 80-minute event in the Oval Office, Trump lambasted critics and the media as he complained that he was not getting credit for his National Guard-backed crackdown on crime and immigration.

“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,’” Trump told reporters.

But he then insisted: “I don’t like a dictator. I’m not a dictator. I’m a man with great common sense and a smart person.”

Trump – who attempted to overturn the results of his 2020 election defeat by Joe Biden at the end of his first term – said before winning a second term in November that he would be a “dictator on day one”.

Republican Trump deployed the National Guard to Washington earlier this month to counter what he alleged was an out-of-control crime problem, also taking federal control of the city’s police department.

Trump suggests Americans ‘like a dictator’ as he signs Washington clampdown

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Trump complained that he was not getting credit for his National Guard-backed crackdown on crime and immigration in the US capital

Trump complained that he was not getting credit for his National Guard-backed crackdown on crime and immigration in the US capital