Donald Trump wants to be a strongman. He has made it clear that he views the Constitution as this annoying thing which prevents him from doing whatever he wants, as is shown by his support for expanding libel laws and his willingness to throw about executive orders to carry out major policy issues like the refugee ban. But so far, he has been stymied by Congress and has been unable to carry out his grand promises like getting funding for a border wall or reforming health care.
So as Trump fails to be a strongman here, it is hardly surprising that he speaks well of strongmen elsewhere. Trump recently indicated his willingness to meet Kim Jong-Un after calling him a “smart cookie” for being able to stay in power on Sunday, and these remarks follows past ones where Trump has praised the dictator. He invited President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines to come to a visit even while Duterte slaughters thousands of his own countrymen in the name of stamping out the drug trade. And who can forget his warm embrace of Vladimir Putin?
Sure, a president has to make tough decisions on foreign policy and meet with unpleasant people, and America has been no stranger to working with dictators. But it is one thing to meet and talk to dictators. It is another thing to outright praise them as smart or tough individuals. Can you imagine how the Republican Party would react if President Obama had called Kim Jong-Un a smart cookie or Putin tough?
An Obsession with Killing
But while Trump praises dictators as being strong or tough, it is noticeable what he does not consider strong or tough. Kim Jong-Un has been in power since 2012. Angela Merkel has been in power since 2005. But I highly suspect you won’t see Trump running around calling Merkel a smart or tough leader for being to stay in power for 12 years. Nor has he done so for any democratically elected leader except to put up bollards in their way.
It is pretty clear that in Trump’s world, a leader can only be tough by killing or threatening to kill people. Duterte murdering child drug traffickers is tough. Kim Jong-Un butchering his rivals in the North Korean political world which more resembles Game of Thrones than a civilized society is tough. Angela Merkel leading Germany to economic prosperity and a dominant position in Europe is not tough.
This is not just a foreign policy thing, but the way Trump views everything. Just look at his recent praise of Andrew Jackson, a President most infamous for threatening and openly wanting to kill his adversaries, whether they be other politicians or Native Americans in the wrong place. Jackson made a lot of threats, which makes him tough in Trump’s mind. Trump defines success for himself and America not by bringing peace and prosperity, but by destroying America’s enemies and becoming king of the ashes.
So if you are a foreign leader who wants to get into Donald Trump’s good graces? Just go shoot and kill some of your citizens without bothering with any legal claptrap. That will make you tough to Donald Trump, and thus someone to be admired. And possibly emulated.