President Donald Trump was criticized for a brazen claim that Americans would actually “like a dictator” before assuring reporters that he’s not one in an attempt to justify his use of military troops as part of his nationwide crime crackdown that saw him most recently put boots on the ground in Washington, D.C.

Trump—who is currently planning to send troops into Chicago—said:

A lot of people are saying, ‘Maybe we’d like a dictator.’ I don’t like a dictator. I’m not a dictator.”

“I’m a man with great common sense, and I’m a smart person. And when I see what’s happening to our cities, and then you send in troops.”

“Instead of being praised, they’re saying, ‘You’re trying to take over the Republic.’ These people are sick.”

You can hear what Trump said in the video below.

Many have condemned and emphasized the danger of Trump’s remark.

Trump has previously suggested he might try to stay in office indefinitely.

During a November meeting with House Republicans, he hinted that he might seek their support in attempting to bypass the Constitution to run for a third term in the future—a remark that drew laughter from the supportive audience.

He said:

“I suspect I won’t be running again unless you say, ‘He’s so good we’ve got to figure something else out.'”

In December 2023, Trump alarmed his critics when he told Fox News personality Sean Hannity that he plans to be a “dictator” on “day one” should he return to the White House.

Over the summer, he told attendees at a conservative Christian event that they “won’t have to vote anymore” if he were elected, stating, “It’ll be fixed so good, you’re not going to have to vote.”

And these claims go back further still: In 2020, Trump suggested at a rally that he deserved an additional term after his potential second due to how he had been treated, saying “we are probably entitled to another four after that.”