Donald Trump assured reporters yesterday that "many" Americans "would love to have a dictator," during a lengthy, wide-ranging press conference in the Oval Office of the White House, which mainly dealt with public safety issues, but also his criticisms of his opponents.
"A lot of people say, 'Maybe we would have liked to have a dictator.' I don't like dictators. I'm not a dictator. I'm someone with a lot of common sense and intelligence," said the Republican President, who political opponents accuse of veering into authoritarianism because of his policies on immigration and public safety.
"You send in the army and, instead of congratulating you, they accuse you of attacking democracy," he said, referring to the reactions to his decision to deploy the National Guard to the streets of Washington for law enforcement operations.
Mr. Trump signed, in front of reporters, an executive order that provides for a prison sentence for anyone who burns a US flag, even though the Supreme Court had ruled in 1989 that such protests cannot be prosecuted due to freedom of expression, a fundamental right enshrined in the Constitution.
"If you burn a flag, you'll go to prison for a year, with no possibility of parole before you serve your entire sentence or anything," he insisted.
The 79-year-old Republican, who spoke for 80 minutes on a variety of unrelated topics, with many digressions, also said that he wants to rename the Department of Defense to the "Department of War," as it was called from 1789 to 1949.
In another, shorter meeting with the press, he added: "Defense, this is very defensive and we want to be aggressive." He also hinted that he does not believe a vote in Congress is required to proceed with the name change.
The tycoon lashed out at his political opponents, especially those whose names are being heard in discussions about the Democratic candidate in the 2028 presidential election.
He called Illinois' Democratic governor, J.B. Pritzker, "dirty," adding sarcastically that he "should exercise more" as he is obese.
On the other hand, the person concerned, who had already described the president as a "dictator" over the weekend, continued his harsh criticism yesterday, Monday, in Chicago, a large city targeted by Mr. Trump, who is signaling that he may deploy the National Guard there as well.
"Donald Trump wants to use the military to take over an American city, punish those who disagree with him and score political points. If this were to happen in any other country, we would have no difficulty at all in talking about a dangerous power grab," said Mr. Pritzker, seeing in the head of state a "dictator in training."
In the interview, the American President lashed out at the governors of California (Gavin Newsom) and Maryland (Wes Moore), both of whom have been taking a heavy dose of sarcasm at him on social media. Referring to the Democratic Party, he said that "all of its potential candidates (for the Presidency) are doing a bad job."
The White House resident reiterated that Chicago could be targeted in an operation involving the military and federal police services, immediately after Washington.
The federal capital, he also promised, will be "flawless" when it hosts the World Cup next summer, taking the opportunity to show off the tournament's trophy, which is now enthroned in the Oval Office.
It's a trophy made of "solid gold," he said, "they know how to get me excited!" The billionaire is known for his love of the precious metal and more broadly for his heavy and flashy aesthetic.
Also, in another digression, the American President referred to the "big problems" caused by the Asian carp, a fish that generally invades ecosystems, in the Great Lakes (north). Illinois, where Chicago is administratively located, is located on the shores of Lake Michigan.
President Trump spoke of "a very violent fish that comes from China, the Chinese carp," and "jumps on boats, everywhere," has "a lot of energy," assuring that this problem will be "very expensive" to solve and that "as long as I haven't received any requests from this guy" (ed. Illinois Governor Pritzker) "I'm not going to do anything."
The Republican has repeatedly threatened to challenge mechanisms through which Democratic-governed states secure funds or assistance from the federal government.
Source: KYPE
