OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
11:56 AM – Monday, August 25, 2025
President Donald Trump defended deploying the National Guard to patrol urban areas and combat crime in the nation’s capital, countering both liberal mainstream media coverage and Democrat accusations labeling him a “dictator.”
Two weeks after Trump stationed more than 2,000 troops from the National Guard in Washington, D.C., including accepting personnel from several other Republican states who were willing to help, the GOP president emphasized that his actions were driven by a genuine intent to make the jurisdiction, which has the nation’s fourth-highest homicide rate, much safer.
President Trump is also now considering sending the Guard to other crime-ridden regions across the country, including Chicago, Illinois, which also prompted pushback from Democrat officials.
On Sunday, troops were observed carrying holstered weapons after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized their use for personal protection.
The next day, on Monday in the Oval Office, President Trump mimicked his critics.
“They say, ‘We don’t need him. Freedom, Freedom! He’s a dictator, he’s a dictator!’” Trump said, poking fun at critics of his crime-fighting actions, before going on to mimic some of his most die-hard supporters.
“[Then] a lot of people are saying, ‘maybe we’d like a dictator,’” Trump added, before assuring Americans that he would never want to be anything of the sort. “I don’t like a dictator. I’m not a dictator. I’m a man with great common sense.”
The president also expressed hope that Democrat leaders in crime-ridden cities like Chicago “get smart,” emphasizing that this would greatly benefit the country.
Vice President J.D. Vance has likewise criticized Democrat leaders who have opposed the Trump administration’s deployment of the National Guard to combat crime
“They’re angrier about the fact the president of the United States is offering to help them get their crime under control than they are about the fact that murderers are running roughshod over their cities and have been for decades,” Vance said of Democrat leaders.
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