President Donald Trump said that “many people are saying ‘perhaps we would like a dictator’”, but insisted that he is not – doing this strange comment in response to critics of his Federal Police Control taking in Washington and his plans to replicate that effort in other cities.
Key facts
Trump said “I do not like a dictator. I am not a dictator. I am a man with a lot of common sense and an intelligent person,” during a press conference at the Oval office full of news on Monday, where he signed executive orders to intensify his repression of the crime in Washington.
Trump accused critics of his measures against the crime of saying “‘freedom, freedom, he is a dictator, he is a dictator’. Many people are saying ‘perhaps we would like a dictator'”, and added that “instead of being praised, they say ‘you are trying to seize the republic.'”
Vice President JD Vance also lashed out at the “Democratic Governors” who, according to him, are “more angry at the help of federal order forces to clean its streets than by the fact that these streets need to be cleaned first”, claiming that “that shows a true mental illness.”
Trump made the comments after promising in recent days replicating his repression of crime in Washington in other cities, specifically mentioning Chicago and Baltimore as his next possible objectives.
Main critics
The governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, a Democrat, accused Trump of “trying to manufacture a crisis, politicize Americans who serve in uniform and continue abusing his power to distract from the pain he is causing families,” in a press release in which he criticized Trump’s suggestion to send the National Guard to Chicago. The mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, also a Democrat, said in an X publication that “what the president is proposing would be the most flagrant violation of our Constitution in the 21st century.”
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Trump signed executive orders on Monday destined to attack the freedom on bail without cash, the burning of flags and to advance their police control in Washington. The last order instructs the Secretary of Defense to establish a “specialized unit within the National Guard of the Columbia district… to enforce the federal law” and ensure that the National Army Guards and the Air Force of each State are “reasonably available for a rapid mobilization” to help federal, state and local forces. The order on bail without cash requires a review of federal funds “that can be suspended or finished” for cities that have policies not to require bail. The order related to the burning of flags instructs the attorney general to “prioritize the application to the greatest possible extent of the criminal and civil laws of our nation against acts of desecration of the US flag.”
Key history
Trump announced at the beginning of this month the taking of the control of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, DC, under the law of local autonomy that orders the mayor of the city to provide police assistance to the president for 30 days when “there are special emergency conditions”, unless Congress approves an extension. Trump has affirmed that crime and lack of housing are out of control in the capital and other large cities, despite the fact that violent crime reached its lowest point in 30 years in Washington last year, according to the Department of Justice. In addition to the Federal Association with the Local Police, Trump deployed hundreds of National Guard troops in Washington to help in federal repression. Trump cannot replicate the Federal Toma of the Control of the Local Police in other cities, but could deploy the National Guard under the insurrection law without state permission.
This article was originally published by Forbes US
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