Outside the Beltway

Dictatorial

Trump's love of the unilateral is on display with serious consequences.

Steven L. Taylor · Saturday, February 28, 2026 · 5 comments

I frequently think about Trump’s “joke” throughout the 2024 campaign that he would be a dictator, but only on day one. Certainly, I thought about it this morning when I awakened to news that the US had unleashed major military operations against Iran with the stated goal of regime change.

I would note that this action was undertaken with minimal attempts by the president to prepare the American people, and with little in the way of congressional consultation.

Trump loves unilateral action; just look at the way he deploys pardons and tariffs. This has also been true for military action as well, whether it be the strikes against Iran last year, blowing up drug boats with impunity, the extraction of Maduro, or today’s attacks on Iran.

I will readily allow that Trump is not the main innovator in this realm, given that the US has not formally declared war since 1941. It has likely not escaped the notice of even the most news-averse Americans that we have been involved in a number of military actions since that time.

Usually, however, at least some attempts to get Congressional fairy dust to provide the patina of legitimacy are deployed. Whether it be a formal agreement, such as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, or the Authorization for the Use of Military Force, we, at least, got some level of consultation with Congressional leadership and some performative compliance with the War Powers Resolution.

Beyond trying to at least get some fig leaf of constitutional compliance, past presidents have tried to make a case for major military action to the American people. While Trump has mentioned it, he has hardly tried to make a full case for it. He couldn’t even be bothered to make a live address to the American public.

Keen observers of US politics might have noticed that Trump had a lengthy, prime-time speech across multiple broadcast platforms recently [checks notes: it was Tuesday of this week]. Weirdly, very little time was devoted to the topic.

Indeed, instead of taking to the airwaves as a means of underscoring the seriousness of the event, he posted a video on the social media service he is part owner of in the middle of the night.

I will note, again, that Truth Social is rife with advertisements. Since advertising revenue on a social media site is set by the number of eyeballs that visit a given feed, we have here the President of the United States monetizing an official announcement of the US government.

Further, Trump wore merch that he sells (for $55!) during the announcement.

This is a deeply unserious man who is making very serious choices for the world, and the consequences of these choices will well outlive his presidency.

Too bad no one tried to tell the American electorate what they were risking…

Too bad Trump himself never told us he wanted to be a dictator.

I will simply leave this post via this on-point (and concerning) paragraph from David Frum. Emphasis mine.

You don’t go bankrupt as often as Trump has gone bankrupt if you’re good at assessing risk. Trump tells ridiculous fantasies presumably because he believes ridiculous fantasies. In his second administration, he has surrounded himself with sycophants who validate his ridiculous fantasies. When his fantasies unravel, Trump has a habit of abusing power to force his will upon an uncooperative world. When the Federal Reserve does not rescue him from his economic mismanagement, he orders his Department of Justice to open criminal investigations into a Federal Reserve governor and the chairman himself. If an actual shooting war goes amiss—takes too long, fails to yield the cheap and easy success Trump craves—what follows at home may exceed all past abuses of power.