Latest news with #dictator
New York Times
16 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Putin Wants Something He Can't Get
Vladimir Putin, in his own telling, is no ordinary leader. He's a lawyer on the throne. From the very beginning of his tenure, he has leaned on his legal background as part of his presidential persona. The reflex never left him. 'After all, I have a law degree,' he told a group of businessmen in May, responding to concerns that a peace deal might bring Western competitors back into Russia. 'If you give me the agreement, I'll flip through it and tell you what needs to be done.' We tend to think of a dictator as someone who tramples the law — and that's absolutely true. But for a dictator like Mr. Putin, who rose from the disciplined ranks of the security services to the presidency by following orders, it is just as important to be able to cite the law as to break it. Today, every new wave of political repression in Russia is preceded by the passage or revision of a law — so that more and more people can be punished 'according to the law,' rather than in violation of it. The endless expansion of the legal order in service of one man's power eventually calls for a higher justification. Indeed, Mr. Putin's entire political career has been a search for a source of legitimacy deeper than the law itself, a personal obsession with proving his authority. This, as much as conquest, is what drives his war on Ukraine: The aim is to turn military victory into Russia's return ticket to the club of the world's great powers. But that remains impossible without recognition from the West. And increasingly, that seems like something Mr. Putin can't get. Legitimacy is a perennial problem for dictators. However strong they may appear, they always suffer from a deficit of it. Their power, after all, is not the result of popular preference. This explains autocrats' fondness for rigged referendums and elections: A referendum was how Mr. Putin extended his tenure in 2020, and elections, held every six years, are used to provide a veneer of popular consent to his rule. Yet there's only so much succor a dictator can draw from rubber-stamping. For many dictators, credibility truly comes on the world stage. Official visits and summits, along with successful military campaigns, are proof of their legitimacy. In the early years of Mr. Putin's tenure, this worked. He held court with Western leaders and won victories in the second Chechen war. But when his decision to return to the presidency in 2012 set off major protests, he began a new fight for so-called traditional Russian values against corrosive Western influence. This shift in emphasis entailed direct confrontation with the West, with Ukraine the proving ground. The annexation of Crimea, presented as the correction of a historical injustice, soon followed, along with the incursion into eastern Ukraine. The full-scale invasion of the country in 2022, conceived as a brilliant blitzkrieg, consummated the adversarial approach. These were strikingly successful attempts to win support at home. But they were also efforts to refashion, not break, Russia's relations with the West. Even after the annexation of Crimea and the conflict in eastern Ukraine, the Kremlin still pursued negotiations — most notably the Minsk agreements — aiming to end diplomatic isolation and reclaim its seat at the table of major powers. Those efforts foundered and Mr. Putin chose to up the stakes. Yet even today, the Kremlin is willing to show some degree of flexibility. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Russia Today
6 days ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
US congresswoman labels Zelensky ‘dictator'
US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has labeled Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky 'a dictator' and called for his removal, citing mass anti-corruption protests across Ukraine and accusing him of blocking peace efforts. Her comments came after Zelensky signed a controversial bill into law that places the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) under the authority of the prosecutor general. Critics argue that the legislation effectively strips the bodies of their independence. The law has sparked protests across Ukraine, with around 2,000 people rallying in Kiev and additional demonstrations reported in Lviv, Odessa, and Poltava. 'Good for the Ukrainian people! Throw him out of office!' Greene wrote Wednesday on X, sharing footage from the protests. 'And America must STOP funding and sending weapons!!!' Greene, a longtime critic of US aid to Kiev, made similar comments last week while introducing an amendment to block further assistance. 'Zelensky is a dictator, who, by the way, stopped elections in his country because of this war,' she told the House. 'He's jailed journalists, he's canceled his election, controlled state media, and persecuted Christians. The American people should not be forced to continue to pay for another foreign war.' Her statements come amid mounting speculation over Zelensky's political future. Journalist Seymour Hersh has reported that US officials are considering replacing him, possibly with former top general Valery Zaluzhny. Senator Tommy Tuberville also called Zelensky a 'dictator' last month, accusing him of trying to drag NATO into the conflict with Russia. Tuberville claimed that Zelensky refuses to hold elections because 'he knew if he had an election, he'd get voted out.' Zelensky's five-year presidential term expired in 2024, but he has refused to hold a new election, citing martial law, which has been extended every 90 days since 2022. US President Donald Trump has also questioned Zelensky's legitimacy, calling him 'a dictator without elections' in February. Russian officials have repeatedly brought up the issue of Zelensky's legitimacy, arguing that any agreements signed by him or his administration could be legally challenged by future leaders of Ukraine.
Telegraph
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Trump is ruling America like a petty, vindictive mob boss
Is Donald Trump an American Hitler – or an American version of Lewis Carroll's Queen of Hearts? US District Judge Beryl Howell recently blocked an executive order by the President that targeted the Democratic-affiliated law firm of Perkins Coie. It would have banned its lawyers not only from doing business with the federal government, but even from entering federal buildings. Judge Howell observed: 'This may be amusing in 'Alice in Wonderland' where the Queen of Hearts yells, 'Off with their heads!' at annoying subjects … and announces a sentence before a verdict. But this cannot be the reality we are living under.' Ever since the celebrity property developer descended the golden escalator in Trump Tower on June 16 2015 to announce his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, many have warned he would become a fascist dictator and predicted that he and his followers would replace democracy in America with an authoritarian police state. But the comparison between Trump and dictators like Mussolini and Stalin was always absurd. Unusual as he is compared to other American presidents, Trump resembles a figure familiar in American local politics in all regions of the country: the sleazy city mayor who, without using direct coercion, strong-arms others into doing his will. Trump has yet to dissolve Congress with a whiff of grapeshot in the manner of Cromwell, or to send members of the opposition party, not just illegal immigrants, to the new 'Alligator Alcatraz' detention centre in Florida. The progressive Democrats and Never-Trump Republicans who think they live in Weimar America will continue to be disappointed when there is no Reichstag Fire or Enabling Act. At the same time, however, there are plenty of examples of Trump abusing his authority in petty and vindictive ways, to extort concessions, including cash, from rich and powerful institutions, or threatening to do so. On Sunday, July 21, the President of the United States, who apparently has nothing more important to deal with, threatened to withhold approval for a new stadium deal for Washington's National Football League team. In 2022, under pressure from woke progressives, the team changed its name from the Washington Redskins to the Washington Commanders (wits at the time suggested that the Washington Red Tapes would have been more appropriate). Trump ran as a foe of political correctness, so there is nothing wrong with him scoring points with his supporters by expressing his preference for the old name, and also for the Cleveland Indians, now the Cleveland Guardians. But Trump crossed a line when he announced on Truth Social, his personal social media site: 'I may put a restriction on them that if they don't change the name back to the original 'Washington Redskins,' and get rid of the ridiculous moniker, 'Washington Commanders,' I won't make a deal for them to build a Stadium in Washington.' This kind of threat evokes crooked mayors, not fascist dictators, along the lines of: 'The city will be glad to grant the contract, if you do what I tell you to do.' And it is only a step removed from the more menacing deal offered by the local mafioso: 'Nice store you have there, it would be a pity if something happened to it.' Unfortunately in the first half year of his second presidential term, Trump has made many offers that evidently couldn't be refused. Trump has sued major media corporations for negative coverage or alleged election bias. With the implicit loss of their broadcast licenses and other privileges held above their heads, ABC News, Paramount, the parent company of CBS News, Meta, and X (formerly Twitter) have all agreed to settle Trump's lawsuits against them, reportedly by donating up to $63 million combined to the nonprofit fund for Trump's future presidential library, according to a CBS News calculation. Now Trump is suing the Wall Street Journal and its owner, Rupert Murdoch, for $20 billion, following the publication of a report that claimed he sent a bawdy birthday card to Jeffrey Epstein. He is even suing his own niece, Mary Trump, claiming she took part in an 'insidious plot' with the New York Times to report on his finances in 2018. In addition to harassing his critics and squeezing money for his Pharaonic monument out of major American media companies, the Mayor of America has shaken down major law firms for 'voluntary' donations to causes he and his allies favour. In the spring, abusing another tool of the presidency – the executive order – Trump threatened penalties against a number of law firms that were known for helping Democrats or that employed lawyers who had been used against Trump in federal or state litigation during the Biden years. On March 20 Trump announced on Truth Social: 'Today, President Donald J Trump agreed to withdraw his March 14, 2025 Executive Order regarding the Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP law firm ('Paul, Weiss'), which has entered into the following agreement with the President: … Paul, Weiss will dedicate the equivalent of $40 million in pro bono legal services over the course of President Trump's term to support the Administration's initiatives, including: assisting our Nation's veterans, fairness in the Justice System, the President's Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, and other mutually agreed projects.' To date, federal judges – including Judge Howell, the Lewis Carroll fan – have blocked the enforcement of Trump's executive orders against the law firms Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, WilmerHale, and Susman Godfrey. In his opinion striking down the order against WilmerHale, Judge Richard Leon, who was appointed by Republican president George W Bush, wrote: 'The order shouts through a bullhorn: If you take on causes disfavoured by President Trump, you will be punished!' Leon concluded that to rule that Trump's executive order was constitutional 'would be unfaithful to the judgement and vision of the founding fathers!' Undeterred by these legal setbacks, Trump has continued to do his imitation of the Queen of Hearts. Recently he has gone so far as to threaten to strip US citizenship from critics. When he broke in public with his former ally Elon Musk, Trump said that he would 'have to take a look' at denaturalising Musk, an immigrant from South Africa. Trump, who for years spread the baseless rumour that Barack Obama was not a legal American citizen by birth, has also questioned whether Zohran Mamdani, the Ugandan-born socialist who won the Democratic mayoral primary election, should be deported. 'A lot of people are saying he's here illegally,' Trump said, and promised that the administration would 'look at everything'. Then there's Rosie O'Donnell, a media celebrity with whom Trump has feuded in public for two decades. After O'Donnell declared that she had moved to Ireland and was seeking Irish citizenship to protest Trump's second election to the presidency, Trump told his followers via Truth Social: 'Because of the fact that Rosie O'Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship. She is a Threat to Humanity, and should remain in the wonderful Country of Ireland, if they want her. GOD BLESS AMERICA!' Trump doesn't have to resemble Hitler for a statement by a president that an individual American citizen 'is not in the best interests of our Great Country' and is 'a Threat to Humanity' to be chilling. In reality, the president of the United States under the American constitution does not have the power to strip any US citizen of citizenship. At the same time, of course, the president almost certainly does not have the power under the constitution to use executive orders to pressure law firms into paying for pro bono projects he favours, or to use lawsuits to raise money for his presidential library from media corporations. Nor is there any law that authorises the president to block a stadium deal for a National Football League team unless it adopts the name he prefers. All of these petty, personal abuses of power fall in the crooked-mayor category, not the authoritarian dictator category. Genuine tyrants do not sue their critics, who are silenced by more effective methods. And the use of threats by officials at all levels and all branches to extort campaign donations or other favours from firms is as old as the American republic and not unknown in other democracies. Even so, the plurality of the electorate who put Trump into the White House for a second time deserve better than this. They voted for a president – not a Queen of Hearts.
The Sun
16-07-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
The Open star who learned to play golf with a broom handle can't go back to his homeland over threats to his life
JHONATTAN VEGAS revealed 'it is not safe for me and my family' to go back to his homeland… because of the country's dictator. Vegas, 40, was born in Venezuela where he learnt to play golf with a broom handle. 1 But when his father Carlos signed a petition against former president Hugo Chavez, who incidentally hated golf, the Vegas family faced persecution. And with the help of two-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw, Jhonattan made his escape to the USA in 2002 when he turned 18. Now, with Nicolas Maduro running Venezuela since Chavez's death in 2013, the country has been deemed guilty of systematic attacks on objectors by Amnesty International, with some 'disappearing'. So as much as Vegas wants his kids, nine and six, to see where he grew up in Maturin, he realises it is not worth the risk of kidnapping - or worse. The world No55 told The Times ahead of The Open at Royal Portrush: 'I had to get on a bus and ride ten hours to get to Caracas for my appointment. 'I think I'm the only person in Venezuela to get a visa in 24 hours, and part of it was down to the connection between Ben Crenshaw and President George W Bush. 'It's not safe politically, and not safe for me and my family. 'The country is run by a dictator government and I just read a case of an actor getting his passport cancelled and not being able to leave the country. 'Even though it's my country and I love it more than anything in the world, it's just a risk I'm not willing to take. 'My immediate family is in the US with me. A couple of things happened where their life was threatened. 'We just made a decision that it was time to leave everything behind because being safe is more important than all the material stuff. 'I'm not an activist but I've always been very outspoken and clear that what's happening is not right for people.' Vegas now lives in Houston, Texas. But Donald Trump has cracked down on Venezuelans travelling to the US as part of his new travel restrictions and immigration policies. Vegas added: 'I just feel sad for all those people who came into the US with a dream to succeed in life, like I did, and have everything taken away in the blink of an eye just because the president decided to go after them for no reason. 'The US is a country that was built by immigrants. I was welcomed and I'm thankful. 'I know there has to be order but at the same time, create a path for people who want to make the US better. 'That's why I haven't agreed with what the president has done. 'Immigrants don't deserve that type of treatment anywhere in the world.'
Washington Post
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
With Trump as ally, El Salvador's President ramps up crackdown on dissent
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Days before his arrest outside his daughter's house in the outskirts of San Salvador, constitutional lawyer Enrique Anaya called Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele a 'dictator' and a 'despot' on live TV. This week, lawyer Jaime Quintanilla stood outside a detention facility in El Salvador's capital with a box of food and clothes for his client, unsure if Anaya would ever be released.
