Folks Are Clutching Their Pearls Over Trump Calling Himself a Dictator — Did He?

After the President of the United States finished his speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 21, 2026, Donald Trump gushed over reactions to his public address. The rambling speech featured Trump confusing Greenland with Iceland multiple times and insulting NATO, and his mental health was called into question all over social media.

However, Trump claimed he did a good job and that the speech "got great reviews" during a reception dinner for the World Economic Forum. He also mentioned comparing himself to a dictator, and his words have folks understandably clutching their pearls. So, did Trump actually call himself a dictator?

Yes, technically, Trump did call himself a dictator. While gushing over his delusion that his speech was a smashing success at the reception dinner, he compared himself to a dictator while expressing the "need" for one as well.

“We had a good speech, we got great reviews. I can’t believe it," he said. "We got good reviews on that speech. 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 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."

Trump's rhetoric is concerning because the twice-impeached president has already incited an insurrection with his language. The president was impeached for his part in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., where MAGA supporters stormed their way into the building and injured 140 police officers. Five people also died as a result of the attack. His immigration policies have also been compared to those of Nazi Germany during World War II.

The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) murdered a Minneapolis woman, Renee Good, in front of her wife and dog after she dropped her son off at school in early 2026, and they later claimed that she tried to weaponize her SUV against the agents.

However, video footage tells a very different story, and it captured the agent who shot Renee calling her a "f--king b---h" seconds after shooting her dead, per The Washington Post.

It appeared that he was upset that Renee's wife was recording the agents as protestors nearby yelled at them. The footage also captured Renee being cordial to the agent before he shot her in the face.

According to Common Dreams, Trump has suggested canceling the midterm elections because the Republicans are expected to lose.

"I won’t say cancel the election; they should cancel the election, because the fake news would say, 'He wants the elections canceled. He’s a dictator.’ They always call me a dictator."

TMZ caught up with German-born actor Boris Kodjoe at LAX and asked him what he thought of Trump's dictator speech.

"I think it's sad. I think it's disturbing. I think it's dangerous. I think it's, um, disgusting," he said.