Featured Image Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Topics: Donald Trump
Phoebe Tonks
President Donald Trump shocked audiences during his second speech at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday, as he told the world: ‘Sometimes, you need a dictator.’
The unexpected remark came as the world leader made reference to the feedback he had received for his first speech of the day, as he told assembled officials: "Usually they say he's a horrible dictator type person. I'm a dictator."
"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% common sense, and that's what we... we had a good speech, we got great,"
It isn’t the first time Trump has made reference to being a dictator, as he previously spoke positively of the title back in 2024 on the election campaign trail when he repeatedly stated he’d welcome becoming one, but only ‘dictator for a day.’
On other occasions he had quipped he’s be a ‘dictator on day one’, often at the start of speeches before going off on meandering tangents about other issues, such as his plans to drill into preserved US parks.
Advert
The positive spin on the dictator label isn’t often seen in the western world, however it has been used extensively in the former Soviet regime, particularly among Marxist-Leninist propaganda.
They championed the idea that sometimes dictators were ‘necessary’ to seize total power and protect their citizens – a rhetoric which has been used repeatedly to justify Vladimir Putin’s tenure for over 25 years.
Yet power isn’t the only thing on Trump’s mind, as his speech soon made clear, money was also a big concern as he boasted that business executives have gotten a lot richer during his first year back in office.
Much of the audience in Davos were wealthy elites or politicians, a far cry from the cash strapped Americans battling with an affordability crisis at home in the US.
Yet rather that speak of ways to address the financial crisis, Trump once again went off on a tangent as he took a swipe at his wealthy peers for the amount of money they were raking in.
"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," Trump began "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."
He added, "There's nothing I can do about it. I would screw them if I could, but I can't do it, right, you know, I can't do it,"