Donald Trump expressed in a remarkable outburst from the Oval Office that some Americans ‘like a dictator,’ as he criticized those opposing his strict measures in Washington, DC. 

Referring to people who have labeled him a dictator, Trump said: ‘They claim, ‘we don’t need him. Freedom, freedom. He’s a dictator. He’s a dictator.’ Yet a lot of people suggest: “Perhaps we prefer a dictator.”‘

‘I don’t like a dictator. I’m not a dictator. I’m a man with great common sense and a smart person.’

He made the claim during an 80-minute appearance that combined new policy announcements with attacks on political rivals.

These remarks follow closely after Trump’s pledge to behave as a ‘dictator on day one’ if elected again, and the subsequent intensification of his law-and-order agenda in the capital.

Recently, Trump invoked emergency powers via the D.C. Home Rule Act, enabling him to take temporary control of the city’s police and mobilize hundreds of National Guard troops. 

The initiative, dubbed ‘Safe and Beautiful D.C.,’ has already resulted in more than 550 arrests in two weeks, according to federal officials.

This deployment consists of 800 Guard members working under Title 32 authority, with the Pentagon confirming this week that they are armed per Trump’s directives.

The President warned he could take full federal control of the city if necessary.

Critics accuse Trump of manufacturing a crisis in a city where violent crime has fallen to a 30-year low. 

D.C.’s Attorney General has already filed legal challenges, calling the move a ‘gross violation’ of the city’s autonomy. 

Meanwhile, the president appeared to suggest that the clampdown would not be exclusive to Washington, DC.  

He said he is considering sending federal forces to Chicago and Baltimore, while recalling how he ordered troops into Los Angeles earlier this summer against the wishes of California’s governor. 

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker hit back at the President during a press briefing on Monday, branding him a ‘wannabe dictator’ who wants to ‘occupy American cities for political gain.’ 

Trump dismissed Pritzker as ‘sick’ and claimed Democrats were playing politics while Americans suffer from crime.

In a move to further tighten his clampdown, Trump signed an executive order on Monday instructing the Justice Department to pursue criminal charges against anyone who burns the American flag. 

The order proposes up to one year in jail for offenders, despite a 1989 Supreme Court ruling that the First Amendment protects the act. 

Non-citizens convicted of the offence could also face visa cancellations or deportation. 

Democrats and civil rights groups accuse Trump of pushing presidential power beyond constitutional limits. 

Lawsuits have already been filed over the federal takeover of D.C.’s police department, and critics say the armed deployment of National Guard troops risks turning the capital into a militarised zone.

A recent Washington Post poll found that 80 per cent of D.C. residents oppose federal control of their police force.

Trump’s hardline approach has drawn comparisons to El Salvador’s tough-on-crime stance under its president, Nayib Bukele, who Trump has constantly praised. The country has arrested and hauled many suspected gang members to one of the toughest jails in the world. 

Trump also hit back at critics who have accused him of being racist, saying: ‘I love Black people.’  

He also reignited his feud with former president Joe Biden by describing him as a ‘moron’. 

But he had kinder words for North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un during a White House meeting with South Korea’s president.

He said: ‘I’d like to have a meeting. I get along great with him.’ During his first time in power, Trump and Kim met three times.