Donald Trump makes chilling ‘dictator’ remark as he gathers world’s despots and strongmen
The shocking remark comes as he mingles with world leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos – urging them to join his “Board of Peace”
Trump is gathering a group to rival the UN(Image: AP)
Donald Trump wouldn’t deny acting like a dictator at an event for business leaders – telling them: “Sometimes you need a dictator”.
The shocking remark comes as he mingles with world leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos – urging them to join his “Board of Peace”.
On the face of it, the body is aimed at fostering peace in the Middle East – but fears are growing that Trump is setting up an authoritarian rival to the United Nations. A draft constitution for the group of nations would appoint him as chairman for life, and give him total control of the $1bn entry fee demanded of permanent members. Many of the nations who have signed up so far are ruled by hard right wing, authoritarian ‘strongman’ leaders. Signatories include Argentina, Bahrain, Egypt, Hungary, Pakistan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
France, Norway, Slovenia, Italy and Sweden have formally ruled out membership, and the UK, China, Germany and Russia have yet to commit.
Of the 20 countries signed up, just two are considered “free” according to the Freedom House’s 2025 Freedom in the World report – Argentina and Israel. Of the remaining 18, 11 are considered ‘not free’, meaning they have serious restrictions on political rights and civil liberties. The remaining seven are considered “partly free”, meaning they have have limited political and civil liberties, restrictions on opposition parties, media censorship or constraints on the rule of law.
Speaking at a meeting of CEOs at the Swiss summit, Trump said his speech, earlier, had been met with good “reviews”. “Usually they say ‘he’s a horrible dictator-type person, he’s a dictator’,” he said. “But sometimes you need a dictator. But they didn’t say that in this case.” Trump insisted the suggestions in his speech were “common sense”. He said: “It’s not conservative, or liberal, or…it’s I would say 95% common sense.”
It was not immediately clear how many countries would accept invitations to join the Board of Peace. A White House official said about 30 countries were expected to join, and about 50 had been invited. Two other US officials, who similiarly spoke on condition of anonymity to describe internal plans not yet made public, said roughly 60 countries had been invited but only 18 had so far confirmed their participation.
Trump was sunny about the prospects ahead of an event Thursday tied to the board, saying of the countries that were invited that “some need parliamentary approval but for the most part, everybody wants to be on.”
The Pope and the Holy See have also been invited to join, but had not confirmed whether they would.
Asked by a reporter on Tuesday if the board would replace the U.N., Trump said: “It might.”
