In America, we don’t believe in kings. Our founders fought a revolution to break from monarchy, and our Constitution was written to ensure that no one person would ever be able to wield unchecked power. We created a system of checks and balances, of federalism, of freedom of speech and assembly—not to be nice, but to prevent tyranny. That’s the point.
Which is why what we’re seeing this week should shake every American to their core.
President Trump, in a shocking display of authoritarianism, essentially declared war on California—yes, one of our own states—and will this weekend be holding a military parade that will look like something out of Moscow.
One has to ask: does he want to be president or king?
The answer is clear and it’s not what the American Revolution was about. Instead, it’s about one-man rule and is dangerous. Dangerous to our republic and dangerous to us all.
The president’s attack on California wasn’t just rhetorical. He deployed federal troops to “restore order” in a state governed by political opponents under the flimsiest of pretenses. He threatened to imprison the Governor, a duly elected official, in the kind of move that’s favored by autocrats who want to silence their political opponents, audaciously pushing to weaponize the Justice Department even further than it already has been.
And then, instead of answering serious questions about the legality or necessity of these maneuvers while sitting in the Oval Office, he chose to celebrate them by threatening peaceful protestors this coming weekend “with very heavy force” at his military parade in the streets of Washington, D.C.
Is there any doubt that he wants to be a king?
What’s clear is that these moves are not a show of strength. Instead, they’re a display of insecurity, wrapped in the language of nationalism, aimed at bending our democratic institutions to one man’s will.
I worked in both the Obama and Bush Administrations. I served as an aide in Congress. I was an elected local government official. I know how decisions get made when the system works as it should - democratically. And I know how terrifying it is when it doesn’t. What we’re seeing from Trump now isn’t just erratic. It’s strategic. It’s authoritarian. It’s about power—not for the people, but over them.
What’s also become clear in recent days is that Trump’s flirtation with autocracy is no longer a flirtation. It’s a full-blown embrace.
In a healthy democracy, presidents don’t use the military as a prop for personal glorification. They don’t target individual states because of who governs them, regardless of the policy disputes (and the dispute over immigration policy is a big one!). And they certainly don’t try to rewrite the rules of federalism to consolidate power in themselves.
But that’s what Trump is doing. He’s attacking the very foundation of the American idea, our Constitutional order, our system of checks and balances.
We must be honest about what this moment demands. This isn’t just about politics. It’s about preserving our republic for us all – Democrat and Republican alike. Because once a leader decides he no longer needs to play by the rules—when he claims the power to punish political dissent and demand loyalty that goes against the rule of law — we’re not talking about a presidency anymore. We’re talking about a monarchy.
And here’s the thing: America already decided how it feels about kings. We dumped tea in the harbor. We wrote a Constitution. We pledged allegiance to democracy.
Trump may want to be a king. But we, the people, don’t crown kings. We never have and we never will.
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