US President Donald Trump looks at a handcrafted wood pen as South Korean President Lee Jae Myung (L) signs a guest book before entering the Oval Office for talks on Monday --AFP WASHINGTON, Aug 26 (AFP): US President Donald Trump on Monday suggested many Americans would like a dictator as he signed orders to tighten his federal clampdown on the capital Washington and to prosecute flag-burners.
During a rambling 80-minute event in the Oval Office, Trump lambasted critics and the media as he complained that he was not getting credit for his National Guard-backed crackdown on crime and immigration.
"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.
"I don't like a dictator. I'm not a dictator. I'm a man with great common sense and a smart person."
Trump-who attempted to overturn the results of his 2020 election defeat by Joe Biden at the end of his first term-said before winning a second term in November that he would be a "dictator on day one."
Republican Trump deployed the National Guard to Washington earlier this month to counter what he alleged was an out-of-control crime problem, also taking federal control of the city's police department.
Trump said he was also considering sending the military into the cities of Chicago and Baltimore as he targets a series of Democratic strongholds. He sent the National Guard to Los Angeles-against the mayor's and California governor's wishes-in June.
National Guard for public order, and ending cashless bail.
He also said he would soon be changing the name of Hegseth's department to the Department of War, its name from 1789 to 1947.
Democrats have repeatedly accused Trump of pushing presidential power way past its constitutional limits, most recently by deploying troops in the US capital.
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