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“I am not a crook,” President Nixon said in 1973.
“I’m not a dictator,” President Trump insisted on Monday.
And with that, another famously false presidential proclamation entered the annals of memorable statements no president should ever feel compelled to make.
It took months more for Nixon’s crimes to force him to resign in 1974 ahead of his all-but-certain removal by Congress. But a half-century later, Trump is unabashedly showing every day that he really does aspire to be a dictator. Unlike Nixon, he doesn’t have to fear a supposedly coequal Congress: It’s run by slavish fellow Republicans who’ve forfeited their constitutional powers over spending, tariffs, appointments and more. Lower courts have checked Trump’s lawlessness, but a too-deferential Supreme Court gets the last word and empowers him more than not.
Americans are indeed in proverbial uncharted waters. Four months ago, conservative columnist David Brooks of the New York Times wrote — uncharacteristically for a self-described “mild” guy — “It’s time for a comprehensive national civic uprising.” It’s now past time.
Perhaps more troubling than Trump’s “not a dictator” comment was a related one that he made on Monday and reiterated on Tuesday during a three-hour televised Cabinet praise meeting (don’t these folks have jobs?). “A lot of people are saying maybe we like a dictator,” he said. Alas, for once Trump isn’t wrong. MAGA Republicans are loyal to the man, not the party, and give Trump the sort of support no president in memory has enjoyed.
A poll from the independent Public Religion Research Institute earlier this year showed that a majority of Americans — 52% — agreed that Trump is a “dangerous dictator whose power should be limited before he destroys American democracy.” Those who disagreed were overwhelmingly Republicans, 81% of whom said Trump “should be given the power he needs.” Americans’ split on this fundamental question shows the extent to which Trump has cleaved a country founded and long-flourishing on checks and balances and the rule of law, not men.
That Trump would explicitly address the dictator issue this week reflects just how head-spinningly fast his dictatorial actions have been coming at us.
The militarization of the nation’s capital continues, reinforced with National Guard units from six red states, on trumped-up claims of a crime emergency. Trump served notice in recent days that the thousands of troops and federal agents will remain on Washington’s streets indefinitely despite a federal law setting a 30-day limit — “We’re not playing games,” he told troops on Friday — and that Chicago, Baltimore, New York and perhaps San Francisco are next.
In all cases, as with Los Angeles, Il Duce is acting over the objections of elected officials. But who cares about stinking elections? Trump warned on Friday from his gilded Oval Office that Washington’s thrice-elected Mayor Muriel Bowser “better get her act straight or she won’t be mayor very long, because we’ll take it over with the federal government.” And after Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, another Democrat, slammed Trump for his threats, El Presidente replied that he has “the right to do anything I want to do.”
This is scary stuff, and it’s being normalized by the sheer firehose nature of Trump’s outrages and by the capitulation of his Cabinet, Congress, corporations and rightwing media. That’s why the remaining citizenry must take a stand, literally.
Trump’s sycophants atop the Pentagon and intelligence agencies, the equally unfit Pete Hegseth and Tulsi Gabbard, continued their purge of senior military officials and intelligence experts whose loyalties to Trump are suspect. And on Friday, the FBI raided the home of former Trump advisor John Bolton, in a chilling signal to other critics.
In a first for a president, Trump on Tuesday tried to fire a member of the independent Federal Reserve board, Biden appointee Lisa D. Cook, in apparent violation of federal law aiming to protect the Fed against just such political interference. The Fed’s independence has been central to the United States’ role as the globe’s preeminent economic power; investors worldwide believe the central bank won’t act on a president’s whims. But Trump is determined to cement a majority that will deeply cut interest rates, inflation be damned. Cook is suing to keep her job, setting up a Fed-backed showdown likely headed to the Supreme Court. Despite its partiality to a president’s power over independent federal agencies, the court has repeatedly suggested that the Fed is an exception. Let’s hope.
Trump, who regularly assails Democrats as socialists and communists, now boasts of compelling private corporations to give the government a stake. Speaking on Monday about a new deal in which the beleaguered head of chipmaker Intel agreed to give the government a 10% stake, Trump declared, “I hope I have many more cases like it.” And yet we get more crickets from Republicans who profess to be the party of free enterprise and free markets.
The president’s campaign against federal judges who oppose him continues as well. On Tuesday it was one of his own appointees, U.S. District Judge Thomas Cullen, who tossed Trump’s lawsuit against the entire federal judiciary in Maryland. To accept the president’s suit, Cullen wrote, would violate precedent, constitutional tradition and the rule of law.
Alas, such violations pretty much sum up Trump’s record so far.
He’s trying to rewrite history at the Smithsonian Institution, including whitewashing slavery, and dictating to law firms, universities and state legislatures. On Tuesday, Trump had Republican state legislators from Indiana to the White House to press them to join those in Texas and other red states who are, on his orders, redrawing House districts expressly so Democrats don’t win control of Congress in next year’s midterm elections.
Amid all this, the New Yorker was out with an exhaustive review of Trump’s finances that conservatively concluded that he’s already profited on the presidency by $3.4 billion. If he’s not careful, Trump won’t only be denying he’s a dictator; he’ll be echoing Nixon on the crook rap.
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Insights
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Perspectives
The following AI-generated content is powered by Perplexity. The Los Angeles Times editorial staff does not create or edit the content.
Ideas expressed in the piece
The author argues that Trump’s declaration “I’m not a dictator” parallels Nixon’s infamous “I am not a crook” statement, suggesting both represent false presidential proclamations that signal deeper problems. The article contends that Trump is demonstrating dictatorial aspirations through his actions rather than his words.
The author criticizes Trump’s militarization of Washington D.C. with National Guard units from multiple states, describing it as occurring over “trumped-up claims of a crime emergency” and violating federal laws that limit such deployments to 30 days. The piece argues this represents an unprecedented federal takeover of local governance.
The article condemns Trump’s threats against elected officials, particularly his warning to Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser that “she won’t be mayor very long” if she doesn’t comply, and his assertion that he has “the right to do anything I want to do.” The author frames these as direct attacks on democratic governance and electoral legitimacy.
The author argues that Trump’s purges of military and intelligence officials, FBI raids on critics like John Bolton, and attempts to fire Federal Reserve board members represent systematic efforts to eliminate checks on presidential power. The piece suggests these actions threaten institutional independence that has long protected American democracy.
The article calls for “a comprehensive national civic uprising” against what the author characterizes as Trump’s normalization of authoritarianism through the “sheer firehose nature” of his actions and the “capitulation of his Cabinet, Congress, corporations and rightwing media.”
Different views on the topic
Trump defends his actions by asserting he is “not a dictator” but rather “a man with great common sense and a smart person,” rejecting characterizations of his federal interventions as authoritarian overreach[1][2]. The president argues that his deployment of federal law enforcement represents necessary assistance to cities struggling with crime rather than dictatorial control.
Trump justifies his federal interventions by describing cities like Chicago as “killing fields” that require National Guard deployment to address what the administration characterizes as out-of-control crime problems[1][2]. The president argues that Democratic-led cities are experiencing violent crime crises that local authorities cannot adequately address.
Vice President JD Vance counters criticism by claiming that Democratic leaders are “angrier” about Trump offering federal assistance than “that murderers are running roughshod over their cities”[2]. This perspective frames Trump’s interventions as helpful responses to urban violence rather than authoritarian overreach.
Trump suggests that public opinion supports stronger executive action, stating that “a lot of people are saying maybe we would like a dictator” in response to crime and governance challenges[1][2]. The administration argues that critics who reject federal assistance in addressing crime are “sick” and ungrateful for necessary intervention.
The administration disputes statistics showing declining violent crime rates in cities, with the Justice Department investigating whether the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department manipulated crime statistics[2]. This perspective challenges the premise that federal intervention is unnecessary based on improving crime data.
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