CNN presidential historian Timothy Naftali suggested that President Trump managed to be a “dictator from day one” of his presidency, based on his actions on Inauguration Day.
Naftali was reacting to the news that the president would sign more than 200 executive orders on his first day, a record number.
“He has decided to keep his promise to be a dictator from day one,” Naftali said, referencing a comment Trump made during a 2023 town hall with Fox Information’s Sean Hannity.
Trump then joked that he wouldn’t be a dictator: “Except the first day. We are closing the border and we are drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I will not be a dictator.”
CNN historian Timothy Naftali commented on President Trump’s rhetoric after his inauguration on Monday. (CNN Screenshot)
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Naftali added that Trump invited several international leaders, such as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Argentine President Javier Milei, whom Naftali criticized as “far-right” leaders.
He continued to attack Trump’s previous calls to acquire Greenland and regain control over the Panama Canal, suggesting this is capitulating to the “far right.”
“In a sense, we had the international far right represented at the inauguration,” Naftali said. “And the president of the United States, for the first time since 1901, in his inaugural address, talked about how this country is going to acquire new territories and threatened the sovereignty of another country.
“That’s a signal to the far-right in the world that the United States is now going to play the game like other far-right countries do, which is: ‘What we want, we take.'”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Argentine President Javier Milei share a joke as they arrive for Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration in the rotunda of the United States Capitol in Washington, United States, January 20, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
He continued: “Which means that, for the first time since World War II, we are no longer an indispensable nation. “If we continue with the takeover rhetoric, we have become an imperialist nation.”
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Trump promised in his inaugural address that “America’s sovereignty will be restored, our security will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced. The merciless, violent and unjust militarization of the Department of Justice and our government will end. And our main priority will be to create a proud, prosperous and free nation.”
Trump had proposed acquiring Greenland before his inauguration. (Evan Vucci/AP)
Naftali added: “The kind of rhetoric the president used in his inaugural address is the kind of rhetoric one associates with the great imperial power.”
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