Trump’s Obsession with Dictators and Strongmen Undermines American National Security
March 2024
The United States has always stood for freedom and democracy, and past presidents of both parties have upheld these core values. But Donald Trump has not only expressed admiration for dictators and strongmen around the world and cozied up to them, but he is increasingly making clear that he wants to copy their anti-democratic behavior if elected to a second term as President.
Here’s how Trump’s infatuation with autocrats and strongmen has made Americans less safe and threats American democracy:
Trump is outsmarted by our adversaries. Trump only admires those leaders he considers “strong.” But Trump doesn’t understand that dictators are playing him: they don’t care about his friendship – and they are only using him to benefit themselves or harm America.
By pursuing a close personal relationship with President Xi of China, Trump continues to undermine U.S. security and economic interests. Instead of standing firm against Chinese policies that harm our interests – such as stealing billions of dollars’ worth of intellectual property, expanding military bases and spying on U.S. citizens and military installations – Trump said recently: I want China to do great [.…] And I like President Xi a lot, he was a very good friend of mine during my term.” In fact, he admires Xi so much that his administration’s economic policies actually benefited China, while harming longtime U.S. allies. During his presidency, he placed more tariffs on European allies than he did on Chinese goods.
Trump’s obsession with Vladimir Putin is no secret – but few people realize just how much his sycophantic relationship with the Russian leader has undermined America’s national security and relationships with our closest allies. Even after Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, Trump has continued to praise the dictator, describing his seizure of Ukrainian territory as “genius” and “wonderful.” His obsession with Putin has also undermined NATO, the military alliance that has kept Europe and the United States out of major conflicts for more than seventy years. During his first NATO summit, he refused to commit to defending our NATO allies. More recently, he has doubled down – saying that he would actually encourage Russia to attack other European countries if he were president.
Describing his relationship with the brutal North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, Trump said “Kim wrote me beautiful letters and they’re great letters. We fell in love.” In one of the letters, Trump says that meeting with Kim would be something out of a “fantasy film,” and describes “every minute” of his 2019 meeting with him as “a moment of glory that remains a precious memory.” He also states that he has “unwavering respect” for Kim. In spite of those kind words, Kim has done nothing to reward Trump’s friendship. North Korea’s nuclear program has only grown larger and more dangerous; and Kim has sent millions of artillery rounds to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Donald Trump deeply admires Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, despite the Saudi ruler’s responsibility for the brutal killing and dismemberment of U.S. permanent resident Jamal Khashoggi. Trump described Salman as “a strong person, he has very good control. […] He’s seen as a person who can keep things under check. I mean that in a positive way.” Trump’s kindness didn’t pay off for hardworking families, who faced rising energy prices as a result of Saudi production cuts. But it certainly worked out for the Trump family, who received a $2 billion investment from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund after Trump left the White House.
Like the autocrats and strongmen he admires so much, Trump values personal loyalty above all else – including above loyalty to the Constitution. Instead of protecting the rights and freedoms enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, Trump expresses admiration for the illegal and harmful tactics his “friends” use to oppress their citizens and political enemies, and has pledged to be a dictator on day one of a second administration.
Freedom of the press in the United States is a protected right under the First Amendment. But Trump prefers the lack of press freedom in Russia, where journalists are routinely jailed for doing their jobs. “Get rid of [journalists]. Fake news is a great term, isn’t it? You don’t have this problem in Russia but we do.”
Trump went so far as to suggest the execution of former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, whose sole “crime” was following the law and the Constitution of the United States.
Shockingly, Trump has expressed admiration for Hitler, noting that he “did some good things.” He also lamented that he did not have the “loyalty” that Hitler maintained of his staff.
If re-elected, Trump is planning to remove any obstacles that could prevent him from enacting his agenda. That includes a legally dubious proposal to replace thousands of public servants with loyalists who will enact his agenda and support his self-described “retribution” agenda against those he feels have wronged him.
Trump doesn’t want his advisors to give him the truth. He prefers to surround himself with yes-men who will tell him what he wants to hear, citing Kim Jong Un’s staff – who fear for their lives if they displease their boss – as a model for running the White House.
Trump wants to be a dictator, too. If Trump wins in 2024, he has made clear that he would use every political, military, and legal tool at his disposal – whether it is constitutional or not – to amass power and exact retribution on those who oppose him. His own Chief of Staff recently concluded that the reason Trump likes dictators so much is because “that’s who he is.”
He has said that on “day one” of his next presidential term, he would become fully authoritarian and exact retribution against his political enemies.
Trump indicated at a November 2023 rally that he would not hesitate to deploy U.S. troops to American cities to target American citizens if he felt like it.
As president, Trump praised Xi Jinping’s rejection of free and fair elections, saying, "He's now president for life. President for life. No, he's great...And look, he was able to do that. I think it's great. Maybe we'll have to give that a shot some day.” On the campaign trail in 2024, he doubled down on this sentiment, saying: “Xi Jinping controls 1.4 billion people with an Iron first. I’d say he’s smart.”
Former staffers in the Trump White House, who know him well, and who have been in the room while he has made decisions that have immense consequences for U.S. national security, are now sounding the alarm, saying that Trump is obsessed with the power that dictators have and was “shocked” in his first term that he did not have the same powers.
Trump has argued that he should be immune from prosecution, regardless of the legality of his actions in the Oval Office. In fact, they even suggested that he should face no consequences if he were to direct Seal Team Six to summarily execute his political opponents.