US President Donald Trump on Monday suggested that may be Americans “like a dictator”, as he reacted to criticism over him deploying National Guard troops in Washington DC to counter an “out-of-control” problem.
Trump gave an address at the Oval Office which lasted for over 80 minutes, and lambasted critics and the media for slamming his military deployment move.
“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 reportedly said.
However, the Republican went on to add that he was not a dictator, but a smart person with “great common sense”. Even as he denied being a dictator, Trump asserted that had vowed to be a “dictator on day one” before he took on as President for the second time.
Donald Trump’s remarks come amid growing criticism of National Guards troops positioned in Washington DC, and the President reportedly eyeing similar plans for cities of Chicago and Baltimore.
“You send them, and instead of being praised, they’re saying, ‘you’re trying to take over the Republic,'” said Trump, charging at Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a vocal opponent of the military deployment. The governor had said that Trump was using DC as a “testing ground for authoritarian overreach.”
In Washington DC, there were reports and rumors of checkpoints and arrests as schools opened amid the troops deployment. “Parents are anxious. We’ve heard from a lot of them,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a news conference.
The mayor also said that parents were mulling keeping children from attending classes at school, owing to immigration concerns.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, witnesses, families, and online videos have shown ICE agents targeting workplaces, daycare centers, and churches in DC, in a visible display of federal immigration enforcement.
