A Democracy Drive Thread
Encouraging violence against protesters, praising dictators, threatening opponents and promising to be a dictator “on day one.”
Democracies depend on leaders who reject political violence and respect limits on their power. This thread collects, in order and with sources, the moments Trump has done the opposite: urging supporters to “knock the crap out of” protesters, telling police not to be “too nice,” musing that a general deserved execution, praising the “iron fist” of foreign autocrats, and talking about using the military against an “enemy from within.” Taken one at a time, each was dismissed as a joke or exaggeration. Taken together, they show a consistent view of power.
February 1, 2016
In his own words
“Just knock the hell — I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees. I promise.” Weeks later, as violence at his rallies grew, he said he did not take responsibility.
“If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously. … I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees.”
February 22, 2016
In his own words
“The guards are being very gentle with him,” he said. “You know what they used to do to guys like that when they were in a place like this? They’d be carried out on a stretcher, folks.”
“I’d like to punch him in the face, I’ll tell you.”
July 28, 2017
In his own words
“Like when you guys put somebody in the car and you’re protecting their head, you know, the way you put their hand over? Like, don’t hit their head and they’ve just killed somebody — don’t hit their head. I said, you can take the hand away, OK?” Police groups and departments rejected the remarks.
“Please don’t be too nice.”
June 15, 2018
In his own words
Trump called Kim “the strong head” of his country. When reporters asked about the remark minutes later, he said, “I’m kidding, you don’t understand sarcasm.”
“He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same.”
June 12, 2019
In his own words
FBI Director Christopher Wray had told Congress weeks earlier that campaigns should report such contacts.
“I think you might want to listen, there isn’t anything wrong with listening. … If somebody called from a country, Norway, ‘We have information on your opponent’ — oh, I think I’d want to hear it.”
September 7, 2019
On the ground
He blamed a Taliban car bombing that killed a U.S. soldier. Rep. Liz Cheney said “No member of the Taliban should set foot” at Camp David, where U.S. leaders planned the response to 9/11.
January 21, 2020
In his own words
In April 2023 he called Xi a “brilliant man” with movie-star looks, and in July 2023 praised him as “smart, brilliant, everything perfect” for running “1.4 billion people with an iron fist.”
November 22, 2022
On the ground
Mitch McConnell said there is “no room in the Republican Party for antisemitism or white supremacy.” Mike Pence said Trump should apologize. Trump said he did not know Fuentes.
September 22, 2023
In his own words
Milley said the calls were meant to reassure China that Trump was not planning an attack. He said he would take measures to protect his family after Trump’s post.
“This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!”
December 5, 2023
In his own words
He said he would use it to close the border and expand drilling. Hannity had given him the chance to reject the label.
“No, no, no, other than day one. We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator.”
March 16, 2024
In his own words
His campaign said “bloodbath” referred to the auto industry. In the same speech he called some migrants “not people” and said, “I don’t know that you’ll have another election in this country.”
“If I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole — that’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country.”
August 23, 2024
In his own words
The Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that flag burning is protected speech.
“You burn an American flag, you go to jail for one year. … They say, ‘Sir, that’s not constitutional.’ We’ll make it constitutional.”
September 29, 2024
In his own words
“One rough hour — and I mean real rough — the word will get out, and it will end immediately,” he said.
“One rough hour — and I mean real rough — the word will get out, and it will end immediately.”
October 13, 2024
In his own words
He said he was less worried about foreign threats than about domestic opponents.
“I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within. … It should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military.”
March 10, 2025
On the ground
The same list added Serbia, Pakistan, Italy and the Democratic Republic of Congo. CIVICUS cited executive orders undermining democratic institutions and the rule of law.
April 3, 2025
In his own words
He called the embezzlement of about €4 million “a ‘bookkeeping’ error” and compared her case to his own.
“The Witch Hunt against Marine Le Pen is another example of European Leftists using Lawfare to silence Free Speech, and censor their Political Opponent.”
May 1, 2025
In his own words
Rep. Shri Thanedar had filed seven articles, including over the Abrego Garcia deportation and DOGE cuts.
“The Republicans should start to think about expelling them from Congress for all of the crimes that they have committed.”
In his own words
He announced a Religious Liberty Commission and boasted that he put the faith office inside the West Wing.
May 2, 2025
In his own words
Border czar Tom Homan suggests Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers could be arrested for telling state employees to consult lawyers before cooperating with ICE. Evers called the threat “chilling” and said, “I haven’t broken the law. I haven’t committed a crime.”
May 4, 2025
In his own words
He said honoring due process would require “a million or two million or three million trials.” The Fifth Amendment guarantees due process to all persons.
“I don’t know. I’m not, I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know.”
May 9, 2025
On the ground
Politico reports Trump has sat for only 12 President’s Daily Briefings since January, about two a month, before moving to once a week. In his first term he averaged two a week, the same as Biden. Some intelligence officials were alarmed. Asked about it on Fox News Sunday, Trump said, “I get it when I need it.”
“I get it when I need it.”
June 7, 2025
In his own words
Trump didn’t say what the consequences would be. He said he hadn’t given real thought to canceling Musk’s government contracts, but added, “I’d be allowed to do that.”
June 10, 2025
On the ground
Soldiers had been told to alert superiors if they had political differences with Trump so they could be kept out of the crowd behind him, and one directive said, “No fat soldiers.” The Pentagon defended the booing: “no one needs to be encouraged to boo the media.”
June 25, 2025
In his own words
Netanyahu was indicted in 2019 on bribery, fraud and breach of trust charges. The Jerusalem court postponed his hearings days later. Trump later pressed Israel’s president to pardon him.
August 25, 2025
On the ground
The flag order tells the attorney general to pursue flag burners “to the fullest extent possible” and says foreign nationals who do it can lose visas or be deported. Trump said the penalty should be a year in jail. Hours later, a man was arrested for burning a flag outside the White House. The order drew rare criticism from some conservatives.
August 26, 2025
In his own words
Earlier in the meeting he said many people tell him “If you call him a dictator, if he stops crime, he can be whatever he wants” — then added, “I am not a dictator, by the way.” He also said the government would seek the death penalty in every Washington, D.C. murder case, though D.C. has no death penalty.
““Not that I don’t have — I would — the right to do anything I want to do. I’m the president of the United States. If I think our country is in danger — and it is in danger in these cities — I can do it.””
September 5, 2025
On the ground
The order lets the department and Hegseth use “Department of War” and “Secretary of War” in official communications. The legal name can only be changed by Congress.
September 21, 2025
In his own words
Erika Kirk had said, “The answer to hate is not hate.” Trump said Kirk “did not hate his opponents” but that this was where he differed: “I’m sorry, Erika.” The White House later said he was being “authentically himself.”
““I hate my opponents, and I don’t want the best for them. I’m sorry, I am sorry, Erika.””
October 14, 2025
On the ground
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent finalized a $20 billion currency swap and bought Argentine pesos directly.
““If he loses, we are not going to be generous with Argentina.””
October 15, 2025
On the ground
The memo said unauthorized engagements “no matter how well-intentioned, may undermine Department-wide priorities.” Only the inspector general was exempted.
October 29, 2025
In his own words
No country but North Korea has conducted an explosive nuclear test since the 1990s. Analysts were unsure whether he meant explosive tests or delivery-system tests.
November 1, 2025
In his own words
He warned an attack would be “fast, vicious, and sweet.” Experts say Nigeria’s conflicts kill both Christians and Muslims.
““May very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists.””
November 8, 2025
On the ground
At least six senior Trump appointees move into Washington-area military housing, shielding themselves from potential violence and from protest. Hegseth and Rubio live on Fort McNair’s “Generals’ Row,” and Noem moved into the Coast Guard commandant’s home on Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling. So many moved that they strained the housing available to the nation’s top uniformed officers.
November 18, 2025
In his own words
Hosting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office, Trump says of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi that “a lot of people didn’t like that gentleman” and “things happen,” and insists the prince “knew nothing about it.”
“A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about. Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen, but he knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that.”
November 20, 2025
In his own words
Trump calls a video in which six Democratic lawmakers who served in the military or intelligence remind troops they can refuse illegal orders “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” He also writes that “each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL” and reposts a post reading “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD!”
“SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”
December 5, 2025
On the ground
Trump’s National Security Strategy warns that Europe faces “civilizational erasure” from immigration and calls for “cultivating resistance” by backing nationalist parties such as Germany’s AfD. German intelligence classifies the AfD as extremist. European leaders said they were shocked to be described as an ideological threat, in language past strategies reserved for countries like Russia.
December 10, 2025
In his own words
Trump warns that Colombian President Gustavo Petro “better wise up or he’ll be next,” threatening the elected leader of a U.S. ally as strikes on alleged drug boats and threats against Venezuela escalate. His administration had already sanctioned Petro and his family and decertified Colombia as a drug-war partner.
“He better wise up or he’ll be next.”
January 8, 2026
In his own words
Days after seizing Maduro, Trump tells The New York Times the only limit on his global power is “my own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.” He added, “I don’t need international law.” Pressed, he said he does abide by it but “it depends what your definition of international law is.”
“My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”
January 29, 2026
On the ground
Trump declares a national emergency over Cuba and authorizes tariffs on any country that directly or indirectly supplies oil to the island. He invoked the same emergency-powers law, IEEPA, behind his global tariffs.
February 9, 2026
On the ground
Trump breaks with long bipartisan tradition by inviting only Republican governors to the White House session of the National Governors Association’s annual meeting. Those excluded included NGA vice chair Wes Moore, the nation’s only Black governor, and Colorado’s Jared Polis. The NGA, chaired by Republican Kevin Stitt, withdrew from the event, and 18 Democratic governors said they would boycott the White House dinner. After the backlash, Trump backed down and allowed Democratic governors to attend.