President Donald Trump on Monday suggested some Americans “might like a dictator” during an 80-minute Oval Office appearance in which he signed an executive order directing the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute people who burn the U.S. flag.
“They say ‘we don’t need him… He’s a dictator.’ A lot of people are saying: ‘Maybe we like a dictator,’” Trump told reporters, before adding, “I don’t like a dictator. I’m not a dictator.”
The order comes despite a 1989 U.S. Supreme Court ruling protecting flag desecration as free speech. Trump said violators should face a year in jail “with no early exits.”
The president also outlined steps to tighten security in Washington, including instructing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to create a public-order unit within the D.C. National Guard and announcing the end of cashless bail. Earlier this month, Trump deployed the National Guard to the capital and asserted federal control over the city’s police department, measures he said address “out-of-control” crime. He said he is considering sending troops to Chicago and Baltimore, and noted he dispatched the Guard to Los Angeles in June over state and local objections.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a frequent critic, called Trump “a wannabe dictator” who wants to “use the military to occupy a U.S. city,” drawing a sharp rebuke from the president, who labeled opponents “sick.”
Trump also said he intends to restore the Pentagon’s former name, the Department of War, arguing “Defense is too defensive.” In remarks that ranged widely, he praised North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, criticized his predecessor Joe Biden, and referenced efforts against an invasive fish species in the Great Lakes.