Trump: “I run the country and the world.”

Trump is working hard to live up to his absurd claim on April 28, 2025, that “I run the country and the world.”

The American people and the federal courts (other than the Supreme Court) have had something to say about this as have democracies throughout the world: They say NO.

In pursuit of his modest ambition to serve as Emperor of the United States and the World (the first World Emperor since Darth Sidious, Emperor of the galaxy in Star Wars), Trump is behaving like a narcissistic, unhinged would-be dictator.

Here are two examples of Trump’s dictatorial desires at work.

I run the world

Trump’s proposed Board of Peace is his latest effort to demonstrate that he runs the world. In his second term, Trump bizarrely has focused on claiming the role of world peacemaker. His evidence: the claim that he “ended eight wars.” (The number keeps growing.) But this dubious claim fails to align with the fact that Trump has bombed six countries – so far – in less than a year, as well as bombing “very small boats” in the Caribbean and threatening to invade or steal Greenland.

Almost all democracies, including our European and Asian allies – have not joined the Board. They apparently recognize it for what it is – yet another Trump vanity plate.

Never mind that there is an existing global order that has worked hard to keep the peace since World War II. But since Emperor Trump has had nothing to do with this, he has little, if any, interest in it and keeps attacking institutions like NATO and the United Nations.

As Max Boot, a military historian, wrote about Trump’s Board in The Washington Post, “This is a model closer to the Trump Organization than to the collective leadership of the United Nations or NATO…. If it is remembered at all, it will be as a testament to Trump’s tendency to make everything — even, or perhaps especially, the noble search for world peace — all about his own self-aggrandizement.”

I run the country

Trump’s attempt to run our country has been no more successful. The public is rejecting Trump by significant majorities, including some of his lowest approval ratings ever.

According to a new Economist/YouGov poll this week, “Donald Trump remains broadly unpopular, with record low job approval among Independents of net minus 40% and a record high 49% of Americans who say they strongly disapprove of Trump’s job handling.” The poll states 57% disapprove of Trump’s job performance versus 39% who approve of it, a net approval of minus eighteen.

According to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll also released this week, 58% say the ICE crackdown has gone too far, and by 39% to 53%, they disapprove of the job Trump is doing on immigration. Trump’s “overall approval rating [is] sinking to 38% approval compared with 59 percent disapproval, tying the lowest level of approval during his current term.”

According to a new Fox poll, a 54% majority thinks the country is worse off today than it was a year ago, compared to 31% who say it is better off. Trump’s rating are low on inflation (35% approve), tariffs (37% approve), the economy (40% approve), and on healthcare (37% approve to 62% disapprove, immigration (45% to 55%), foreign policy (39% to 61%), Greenland (31% to 67%), Russia (38% to 61%), Ukraine (40% to 59%), Iran (41% to 57%) and Venezuela (42% to 57%).

Trump’s lows in public support are due in part to ICE’s invasion of Minneapolis by 3,000 personnel, and by the responding protests by thousands of its citizens, braving freezing weather to say NO to ICE and NO to President Trump and his secret, masked, nameless national police force.

The tragic killing of two American citizens has served as a line in the sand for many Americans. The senseless and unforgivable killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE officers have rallied the country to say to ICE – ENOUGH.

This powerful resistance by Minneapolis citizens follows the last “No Kings” protest march against Trump which engaged a reported 7 million people from all over the country. The next “No Kings” march has just been called for March 28.

Citizens are now seeing Trump in a larger context. Trump has engaged in extraordinary abuses of his office since the day he took office last year. He has repeatedly and wrongly used the power of the presidency and the law enforcement apparatus – which he controls with an iron fist – as a political weapon to target opponents and treat criminal investigations like punishments.

Trump has demanded criminal scrutiny of people, often simply because he dislikes them, while irresponsibly calling out their guilt publicly before even the facts are gathered or any process plays out.

No president in this country gets to turn the justice system into his personal enforcement and political revenge arm.

No president gets to turn our democracy into his personal playpen.

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Fred’s Weekly Note appears on Thursdays in Wertheimer’s Political Report, a Democracy 21 newsletter. Read this week’s newsletter, and other recent editions, here. And subscribe for free here and receive your copy each week via email.