Daijiworld Media Network – Washington
Washington, Aug 26: US President Donald Trump sparked fresh controversy on Monday by suggesting that Americans might welcome a dictator, even as he signed new executive orders to tighten his federal grip on Washington and prosecute flag-burners.
Speaking in a rambling 80-minute Oval Office event, Trump lashed out at critics and the media for not giving him credit for deploying the National Guard and taking control of the capital’s police force. “They say, ‘we don’t need him. Freedom, freedom. He’s a dictator.’ A lot of people are saying: ‘Maybe we like a dictator,’” Trump remarked, before insisting, “I don’t like a dictator. I’m not a dictator. I’m a man with great common sense.”
Trump, who had once vowed to be a “dictator on day one” if re-elected, doubled down on his crackdown by signing an order mandating a year in jail for anyone convicted of burning the American flag, despite the Supreme Court’s 1989 ruling that protects it as free speech.
The 79-year-old president also directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to form a new public order unit within the Washington National Guard and announced the end of cashless bail. Hinting at more symbolic changes, Trump suggested renaming the Pentagon’s top department to its World War II-era title, “Department of War.”
His remarks quickly drew backlash from Democrats, who accused him of exceeding constitutional limits by deploying the National Guard to US cities, including Los Angeles, and threatening to send troops to Chicago and Baltimore. Trump singled out Illinois governor JB Pritzker, mocking him as “sick” for resisting federal intervention.
In a wide-ranging tirade, Trump denied accusations of racism by declaring, “I love Black people,” while also referring to a Salvadoran immigrant as an “animal.” He further digressed into complaints about Chinese carp in the Great Lakes, calling them “a very, pretty violent fish.”
The president also dismissed his predecessor Joe Biden as a “moron” and brushed off Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as merely “big personality conflicts.”
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