Donald Trump addressed the World Economic Forum in a second marathon speech on Wednesday morning and shockingly said, “Sometimes, you need a dictator.” He added, “Usually they say he’s a horrible dictator type of person. I’m a dictator,” referring to getting good remarks on his previous speech.
It was not the first time that the POTUS has said something like that. To recall, he often stated during his 2024 campaign that he would be willing to serve as a “dictator for a day,” and talked about being “dictator on day one” before launching into speeches about expanding oil drilling in American nature reserves.
“But sometimes you need a dictator, but they didn’t say that in this case, and, and no, it’s common sense, it’s all based on common sense, you know, it’s not conservative or liberal or anything else, it’s mostly, let’s say 95 percent common sense,” Donald Trump rambled on.
This kind of talk might sound reassuring on the surface, but it’s actually a very old trick that history has seen play out many times before. It is a bit like someone telling you they need to hold onto your house keys “for your own safety”—it sounds helpful at first, but really it just means they decide when you can come and go.
Trump: "Usually they say, 'he's a horrible dictator-type person.' But sometimes you need a dictator." pic.twitter.com/Mi11DZx0u3
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 21, 2026
For decades, some of the most controlling governments in the world have used this exact same excuse to grab more power. In my opinion, it’s honestly a bit unsettling to see this pattern repeat itself; the Soviet Union used to tell its people that total control was “necessary” for their protection, and Vladimir Putin has used the same line of reasoning to keep a firm grip on Russia for 25 years.
It’s a classic playbook move: using the promise of security to justify taking away people’s voices. When “safety” is used as a reason to consolidate power, it’s usually a sign that things are moving in a very controlling direction.
But Trump’s rambling at Davos didn’t stay focused on the philosophical question of when dictators might be needed. He pivoted to something more personal: his jealousy of wealthy people in the room.
“We have a lot of brilliant genius people in this room, and you can put that genius to work, and it’s an honor to do it. In a way, I’m jealous of… in a way I’m upset. There are a couple of people in the room. I can’t stand them, and they’ve become very rich,” Donald Trump shared.
I know what further information they need. We need to bring the machine into the light so people realize how they are being controlled, which is allowing this to happen unimpeded.
Donald Trump is America’s first dictator and he proved it today pic.twitter.com/0V9RlClO21
— MAGA Cult Slayer🦅🇺🇸 (@MAGACult2) January 4, 2026
“There’s nothing I can do about it. I would s—w them if I could, but I can’t do it, right, you know, I can’t do it,” the POTUS went on, minutes before returning to the theme that dictators are sometimes necessary.
Netizens were quick to react to Donald Trump’s statement about “needing a dictator.” “He’s not even hiding it!” one commenter said. “No one needs a dictator,” another X user stated. “I believe that not in the very distant future Our Embarrasser In Chief will be uttering the words, ‘I’m just here to protect democracy, not practice it,'” a third user chimed in.
Back home, many of Trump’s fellow Republicans are practically begging him to focus on the things that actually keep regular people up at night—like the skyrocketing price of groceries and the stress of paying bills as the midterm elections get closer. One would think that helping families find a bit of breathing room in their budgets would be the top priority.
However, instead of talking about how to address economic anxieties, the POTUS went on talking about wanting to “s—w” people who do not align with him and suggesting that sometimes dictatorship is what a country needs.
