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US President Donald Trump on Monday defended his unprecedented federal takeover of policing in Washington, DC, while suggesting that some Americans may even welcome authoritarian leadership.“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 during a wide-ranging 80-minute Oval Office event, as reported by news agency AFP. He immediately added, “I don’t like a dictator. I’m not a dictator. I’m a man with great common sense and a smart person.”The comments came as Trump signed a series of executive orders to escalate his clampdown on crime and immigration in the capital. One directive orders the attorney general to prosecute flag-burning, despite a 1989 Supreme Court ruling protecting it as free speech. “If you burn a flag you get one year in jail, no early exits, no nothing,” Trump declared.He also instructed defence secretary Pete Hegseth to create a special National Guard unit in Washington for public order and announced the end of cashless bail, while vowing to rename the Pentagon’s department the “Department of War.” “Defense is too defensive,” he argued.According to Forbes, Trump said he may replicate the model in other Democratic-run cities, specifically naming Chicago and Baltimore. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker branded him “a wannabe dictator” who wants to use troops to “punish his dissidents and score political points.” Chicago’s Mayor Brandon Johnson warned that the president’s proposal would mark “the most flagrant violation of our Constitution of the 21st Century.”Around 2,000 National Guard troops are already deployed in Washington, with some authorised to carry firearms, even though violent crime in the city has fallen to a 30-year low. Civil rights advocates have also criticised the removal of homeless encampments under the new crackdown.Democrats, including Senator Ed Markey and California Governor Gavin Newsom, have accused Trump of militarising US cities for political gain. “It’s what dictators do,” Markey posted on X, while Newsom called the Los Angeles deployment “the start of an authoritarian takeover.”Despite mounting criticism, Trump dismissed detractors as “sick” and doubled down on his strongman style. He even repeated his admiration for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, telling reporters, “I get along great with him.”
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