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Every few years, the right discovers a new way to defend Donald Trump.
This week’s favorite?
“Trump can’t be a king.”
It’s been everywhere — in op-eds, on cable news, bouncing around social media.
And technically, they’re right. Donald Trump is not a king.
But that’s not the point.
The point is that he’s trying to turn the presidency into a throne — one where loyalty replaces law, accountability disappears, and power answers only to him.
That’s why he tears down institutions. That’s why he trashes the press, the courts, the civil service. Because every time he weakens the machinery of government, he creates space for one thing to fill the void: himself.
‘He’s Not a King — He Was Elected by a Majority of Americans.’
No, he wasn’t.
Let’s start there.
Trump lost the popular vote — twice. In 2024, only about two-thirds of Americans even voted, and just a third of the country actually put him in office. His margin with voters? Barely more than a single percentage point.
Hardly a coronation.
And for the record, plenty of monarchs have been elected. Medieval nobles, tribal elders, rigged parliaments — the “voters” might have changed, but the outcome didn’t. The elections were limited, unfair, and unfree. The kind of elections we might expect if Trump gets his way again.
“He’s Not a King — or the Government Wouldn’t be Shut Down.'“
This one’s almost too dumb to process.
The government is shut down because Trump wants it shut down.
Because he’s holding Speaker Mike Johnson hostage. Because he’s terrified of what might come out if the Epstein files are released. Because chaos serves him better than competence ever could.
If Trump wanted the government open, it would be open. But he’s made it clear he’d rather break it — to prove it doesn’t work without him.
He’s bragged about not being “extorted.” He’s cheering on Russ Vought’s slash-and-burn crusade against federal workers.
That’s not governing. That’s control through chaos — a lesson he learned years ago and one he’s never forgotten. When everything is on fire, the man who started the blaze looks like the only one in control.
“He’s Not a King — or He’d Have Shut Down the No Kings Protests.”
And that’s exactly what he dreams of doing.
The fact that he hasn’t is not proof of democratic strength — it’s proof that he still resents every inch of it.
Every protester who mocks him, every journalist who questions him, every late-night host who jokes about him — each one reminds him of the one thing he’s never been able to command: respect.
Trump doesn’t tolerate dissent. He fantasizes about crushing it.
That should terrify us all.
“He’s Not a King — or He Wouldn’t Have Left Office the First Time.”
He tried not to.
He lied, threatened, pressured, and schemed to stay in power. When that failed, he sent a mob to the Capitol to finish the job.
And ever since that day, he’s been preparing to make sure the next attempt succeeds.
He’s installing loyalists at every level. He’s rewriting the playbook to make his takeover legal the next time around. He’s turning the Republican Party into an instrument of revenge.
He’s not pretending anymore.
The first coup failed because it was clumsy. The next one won’t be.
The Court of Donald Trump
Donald Trump doesn’t govern — he reigns.
He’s the kind of monarch who lets others swing the sword while he preens for the crowd.
The parades, the rallies, the golden stage sets — that’s the pageantry.
The cruelty, the vengeance, the chaos — that’s the rule.
Behind him is a court of loyalists:
Stephen Miller, the chief eunuch. Russ Vought, the reaper.
Each competing to prove devotion, to shape the future in Trump’s image, to make themselves indispensable.
That’s not a Cabinet. It’s a royal court — one that answers to power, not principle.
And if Trump returns to office, he won’t need a crown or a throne.
He’ll already have everything that matters: absolute loyalty, total impunity, and a government built to serve only him.
Because Donald Trump isn’t a king.
He’s something worse.
He’s an American who learned how to rule like one.
Andrew Wilson is a research analyst at the Lincoln Democracy Institute.

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