“I’m not a dictator. I’m a man with great common sense and a smart person.” That’s what Trump said last week while defending his decision to deploy National Guard troops to Washington, D.C. Let’s be real. That statement is completely inane. Of course he’s not quite a dictator yet. But it’s not for lack of trying. The man craves unchecked power and you don’t have to dig deep to find dozens of examples of him grabbing for it.
As for “great common sense”? Please. This is the same guy who stood in front of a crowd and proudly declared, “I know words. I have the best words.” That was back in 2015 and somehow, it still manages to sum things up.
And no, he’s not terribly smart. The wreckage of 2025 makes that painfully clear. What we’re living through now is a country unraveling – economically, institutionally and morally.
I’m Not a Dictator
Trump’s claim that he’s not a dictator is contradicted by a relentless campaign to consolidate executive power and dismantle constitutional checks. In recent months, he’s bypassed Congress to rescind billions in foreign aid, defying the Impoundment Control Act and asserting unilateral control over federal spending. His administration has attacked the judiciary, filing lawsuits against federal judges who ruled against him and attempting to disqualify those who challenge his executive orders. Judges have described these actions as a “concerted effort” to smear and impugn the judiciary’s independence.
Due process? Trump’s expedited deportation policies allow for mass removals without legal hearings, including children. Peaceful protest? He’s threatened demonstrators with “big force,” deployed National Guard troops to suppress rallies and labeled dissenters as “people that hate our country.” And when critics speak out, whether they’re former officials, journalists or political opponents, Trump responds with criminal investigations, surveillance and public threats.
Great Common Sense
Trump’s claim to “great common sense” is as hollow as his grasp of facts. This is the same man who once suggested nuking hurricanes to stop them, praised disinfectant as a potential COVID cure and insisted that wind turbines cause cancer. His latest justification for militarizing cities? “We may just go in and do it, which is probably what we should do.”
He’s built a political brand on gut reactions and grievance, not reasoned judgment. His crime crackdown in D.C. was launched despite falling crime rates across major cities. His tariffs have destabilized global trade and triggered job losses in manufacturing, agriculture and retail. His AI policy, while cloaked in patriotic language, is riddled with deregulation and ideological purges, gutting fairness and civil rights protections in federal tech systems. Common sense would demand data, deliberation and restraint. Trump offers none.
And the hits keep coming. Remember Sharpiegate? He altered a government-issued hurricane forecast with a black marker to falsely claim Alabama was in the storm’s path, prompting panic and violating federal law. He then pressured NOAA to back his lie, triggering multiple investigations into political interference with scientific agencies.
He’s claimed Spain is a BRICS nation. It’s not. He blamed a tragic plane crash on diversity hiring. He said the Biden administration spent millions to make “mice transgender”, confusing it with transgenic research. He’s called himself “the King” and insisted Denmark has “no right” to Greenland.
A Smart Person
Trump’s self-assessment as “a smart person” is contradicted by the chaos he’s unleashed. Intelligence isn’t measured by bravado or branding. It’s measured by outcomes. And the outcomes of his second term are catastrophic. He’s fired intelligence officials who contradicted him, politicized national security assessments and dismissed expert warnings as “fake news” when they didn’t serve his narrative.
His economic policies have triggered inflation and ignited trade wars, while his foreign policy has alienated allies and emboldened adversaries. Domestically, his agenda is a patchwork of vendettas and vanity projects, executive orders targeting critics, symbolic infrastructure stunts and purges of career civil servants.
The most devastating example of his so-called brilliance is the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), passed on July 4. It injects $170 billion into immigration enforcement, enabling mass deportations, indefinite family detention and the militarization of border communities. Legal experts warn it obliterates due process, while economists project up to a 6.2% GDP loss and millions of job cuts, especially in construction, agriculture and child care.
Meanwhile, Trump has dismantled seven federal agencies, including the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Minority Business Development Agency and the Interagency Council on Homelessness. These closures gut public services, silence media oversight and erase support for vulnerable communities. The National Endowment for Democracy, once a pillar of global democratic advocacy, has been defunded.
Smart leadership builds institutions. Trump’s leadership burns them down.
Conclusion
Trump’s declaration, “I’m not a dictator. I’m a man with great common sense and a smart person”, is delusional. It’s a desperate attempt to mask the reality that his leadership is built on authoritarian impulse, reckless ignorance and catastrophic incompetence.
He’s not a dictator? Then explain the unilateral orders, the armed crackdowns on peaceful protest, the gutting of judicial independence and the open targeting of political enemies.
He has “great common sense”? Tell that to the scientists he silenced, explain the hurricane path he rewrote with a Sharpie and the millions misled by his impulsive, fact-free declarations.
He’s “a smart person”? The wreckage of 2025: economic freefall, institutional collapse and the human toll of mass deportations proves otherwise.
Trump doesn’t lead with wisdom. He governs by vengeance. He doesn’t protect the Constitution. He defiles it. And every time he opens his mouth to declare how brilliant and benevolent he is, he confirms exactly the opposite.