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45m ago

Trump Suggests Americans Might Prefer a Dictator, Touts National Guard Use

Critics frame the remarks as a trial balloon for expanded executive power, pointing to Guard patrols in Washington plus polling that shows significant Republican support for fewer limits on the presidency.

Lawmakers wait in line to debate a redistricting bill in the Texas House on August 20 in Austin.
Army National Guard soldiers stand at the scene where a man burned a US flag on Monday.
A US Secret Service Uniformed Division officer detains a man that burned a US flag at the edge of Lafayette Park, across from the White House, on Monday.
An armed member of the National Guard patrols near the Lincoln Memorial, on the National Mall in Washington, DC, on Tuesday.

Overview

  • At a televised Cabinet meeting, President Donald Trump said he is not a dictator while asserting that many people would accept one if it meant stopping crime.
  • A day earlier in the Oval Office, he attacked Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and indicated Chicago was next for a National Guard deployment.
  • TIME reported roving National Guard patrols and military vehicles in Washington, including on 14th Street NW and near Union Station.
  • Journalists and officials described the rhetoric as an intentional normalization effort, with some calling it a trial balloon and labeling the comments chilling.
  • Analysts cited a University of Massachusetts Amherst survey showing 74% of Republicans endorsed Trump’s past day-one dictator quip and a Pew poll finding 59% favored fewer constraints from Congress and the courts.