That’s what dictators do

This plunge into totalitarian-style histrionics is just a minor manifestation of the upheaval in public norms radiating across the U.S. from Trump’s White House.
Only five months into his new term, U.S. President Donald Trump has indeed moved quite a ways down the road to his own version of one-man rule, writes Les Whittington. White House photograph by Daniel Torok
Opinion
BY LES WHITTINGTON
June 18, 2025

OTTAWA—Anyone who has watched Donald Trump’s daily talk-show version of United States governance in the Oval Office can’t help but have noticed the performances of the senior officials arrayed around the president.

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