Trump and Lee Jae-myung's "Only I Can Do It" Cult-Following Dictatorship
US President Trump's "Only I Can Do It" mantra has been described as a personality-cult dictatorship dominated by cult-like followers, undermining the rule of law and interfering in elections.
Experts have interpreted the Trump administration's strengthening of the cult-like power centered on his supporters as an "electoral dictatorship assisting the Congressional government."
On the 3rd, the Lee Jae-myung administration adopted a "one-member, one-vote system" for the Democratic Party, shifting the system from "representative politics" to "dues-paying party members" controlling a significant portion of government funding and monopolizing nomination rights.
In the US, government campaign contributions to candidates are prevented from being misused by requiring "detailed explanations and legal action" from "individual candidates." In South Korea, "campaign contributions to political parties" allow for "arbitrary use of public funds through collusion between party leaders and nominated candidates, and a system that neutralizes accounting settlements."
This allows hundreds of billions of won in "priority payments" to be used for personal campaigns, reinforcing the monopoly power of the established, large party leaders.
President Lee Jae-myung, placing political parties and the executive branch as subordinate to the ruling system, uses social media to belittle opponents with commands like "Can't you do it?" and "Let's fight?", reinforcing a "follower-foe distinction" over the rule of law, transforming it into a personality cult.
His secretaries and administrative officials are the first to adopt a submissive stance.
The Trump administration has been using these themes since entering the national political arena. During his 2016 presidential campaign, he declared, "Only I can fix it." Now, he is being criticized for "expanding presidential power."
Sarah Matthews, who served as deputy press secretary during Trump's first term but resigned in protest after the January 6th attack on the Capitol, said, "He's a man drunk on power with an already massive ego, and it's only gotten more inflated by being re-elected and winning the popular vote."
She told the New York Times that the president is focused on "building monuments to himself" and exacting revenge on his perceived enemies, rather than focusing on "what's best for the American people."
Matthews, who is now affiliated with the opposition group House of the Brave, said, "This reinforces the perception that this presidency is more about elevating one person than serving the country."
Regarding the social media post of former President Obama and his wife as monkeys, Kurt Mills, executive director of The American Conservative, wrote in a February 9th Washington Post article that it was "Trump's personality cult," adding, "The concept of a personality cult has been increasingly prevalent in political discourse in recent months and in the past 10 days." "It has been done," he told the New York Times.
A New York Times reporter, who has covered six presidents as a White House correspondent, stated, "Personality-centered politics, rather than prescribing specific policies, ties followers of a movement closer to the leader, making his successes or failures their own. Cult and loyalty are central, ideology is secondary, and the leader is portrayed as infallible, unique, and even divinely transmitted at this historical moment."
On the 14th, Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik commented on President Lee's housing price SNS drive on YouTube, saying, "There are a lot of prepared policies," and "The market is starting to believe that we can stabilize things. The president's study volume is enormous. He reviews every document coming from every ministry," announcing the policy as "superhumanly intense and exceedingly thorough."
He continued, "The president passes over things he sees and can resolve based on his experience, and searches for things he doesn't understand. He always studies before live town hall meetings and cabinet meetings." President Lee Jae-myung might become the first "streaming leader." "From now on, shouldn't we be a president who can live-stream (three- to four-hour Cabinet meetings) rather than relying on mere images or words?" he said, directly announcing the activation of an "executive order" system to the omnipotent public.
Director Kang said, "There are many options, including taxation, supply, and legislation, and we are prepared for any of them. In short, Lee Jae-myung can do it. There was a time when he made money in real estate, but I believe that our government will end the 'real estate undefeated era.'" When asked if any of his aides tried to dissuade him, he replied, "No."
Director Kang specifically stated, "President Lee's ability was demonstrated when the KOSPI reached 5000, and even before that, there were the Korea-US trade negotiations. (On both issues,) the aides' attitude shifted to 'What should we do?'" He described this as a "one-way rule, with secretaries and administrative officials initially capitulating." On the 31st of last month, President Lee announced on SNS X, "Normalizing the real estate market is much easier and more important than valley maintenance of 5,000 pyeong," and "I hope you grab the opportunity when you have it. You will soon realize that this is your last chance."
This is interpreted as an ultimatum to real estate speculators and a strong will to stabilize housing prices in the metropolitan area.
On this day, President Lee posted an article titled <There's a fire sale after all> and praised himself for "the success of his strategy" and warned, "Grab the opportunity when you have it."
He also created a diagram titled <Normalization of the Abnormal, Do You Think Real Estate Speculation Will Fail?> on X, <'Normalization of the Illegal Valley = Completion of Valley Maintenance', 'Normalization of the Stock Market Where Illegal and Corrupt Practices Were Ran = Opening of the 5,000 pyeong'>, and consistently used threatening words, asking, "Do you think normalizing the real estate market, which is ruining the country, is impossible?"
The President and his aides' remarks appear to be aimed at exerting external pressure and internally demonstrating that "stocks are faster and more effective than real estate in a supply-side, hard-line conservative economic stimulus strategy."
Regarding Trump-worship politics, New York Governor Kathy Hokel described the Republican Party as "nothing more than a personality cult" at the Democratic National Convention, and New York Democratic Leader Senator Chuck Schumer said democracy will "triumph over personality cults."
Professor Benjamin E. Goldsmith of the Australian National University and Professor Lars J.K. Moon of the University of Vienna wrote in an emailed commentary, "While there's no definitive definition of personality cult, this is ours," in their study "Studying the Influence of Trump Supporters." "For us, this represents the greatest threat Trump's cult-like followers pose to American democracy," they wrote.
The co-researchers added, "Congress becomes an enabler even when the executive branch implements disastrous policies, undermines the rule of law, or attempts to manipulate elections. This system could devolve into electoral dictatorship. We're confident we're already well down that path."
The New York Times reported, “Two scholars who published a paper on this phenomenon (Trump supporters’ personality cult) in the Journal of Political Psychology said that the personality cult allowed President Trump to dominate the Republican primary, the right-wing media, and the majority party in Congress,” and “Anyone who opposes President Trump is considered a traitor and is punished accordingly.” President Lee Jae-myung attached “Case 3 of Manipulation of Jeong Young-hak’s Transcript” posted by the <Judicial Reform> account at dawn on the 14th and announced that the transcript of the “elder brother” submitted by the prosecution as evidence in the “Wirye New Town Development Corruption Case” was “absurd evidence fabrication” and “just one of countless cases.”
On the 5th, President Lee personally announced about the prosecution's announcement of dropping the appeal in the "Wirye New Town Development Corruption Case" on X, saying, "This case doesn't even make sense in legal terms," and "They altered the Daejang-dong recording from 'the story about Wirye New Town' to 'the story about an elder' and presented it as evidence to implicate me."
The ruling Democratic Party formed the "Assembly Members' Group for the Cancellation of Indictments and Promotion of a State Investigation of President Lee Cases" on the 12th, the first of its kind in a political party, with Representative Lee Kun-tae, the President's defense attorney in the Daejang-dong case, and Representative Cho Jeong-sik, a candidate for the National Assembly Speaker, forming "Cancellation of Indictments" as the core political platform of a political party receiving state funding.
The Democratic Party has been pursuing a parliamentary investigation through separate organizations, including the "Special Committee on Responding to Manipulated Indictments by Political Prosecutors," and through a separate group of lawmakers. Furthermore, the Democratic Party has expanded the scope of "responding to manipulative indictments" to "cancellation of indictments," turning the party into a "pardon-exercising body" for the president, thereby violating the Constitution's principle of "popular sovereignty," which guarantees the supremacy of the right to direct elections.
At a New Year's press conference on January 21, President Lee responded to a newspaper editorial that described his North Korea policy as "low-key," saying, "Then shall we take a high-key stance and engage in a showdown?"
Regarding relations with North Korea, President Lee stated, "Many people call it a low-key stance, but does that mean we should engage in a showdown with North Korea?" He added, "If we do, the economy will collapse," and criticized the editorial as "a foolish newspaper editorial." Reuters reported on the 15th, "According to state media, Kim Jong-un, in his report to the 8th Party Congress, called for the development of a variety of systems, including hypersonic weapons, solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles, military reconnaissance satellites, and drones."
The full report also noted that a new nuclear submarine design was in the "final review" stage and that electronic weapons development, including "unmanned strike equipment," "reconnaissance and detection means," and "military reconnaissance satellites," had been completed."
Reuters continued, "Since 2021, state media has repeatedly shown Kim Jong-un observing reconnaissance drone tests, emphasizing the need to prioritize unmanned systems and artificial intelligence in modern warfare." The U.S. think tank 38 North reported in September that North Korea was expanding its drone program and production capabilities.
The Institute for National Security Strategy, a think tank affiliated with South Korea's National Intelligence Service, also pointed to allegations by Ukrainian officials that Russia was establishing drone production facilities in North Korea in a September report."
A report from a research institute affiliated with the National Intelligence Service stated, "If this is true, North Korea-Russia drone cooperation goes beyond a simple technology exchange and carries significant strategic implications for the security environment of the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia," and posed a "serious threat" to South Korea's security.
During his presidential campaign on May 21st of last year, President Lee stated, "There are people who ignorantly claim that our country should not be in debt, such as that our national debt has increased by 1,000 trillion won." He added, "Our GDP is 2,600 trillion won, but our national debt is less than half that. Other countries have debt exceeding 110%."
He continued, "The reality of our economy right now is that we have little income, yet we are preoccupied with paying interest and repaying debt. Are you happy that we reduced our national debt to 48%?"
On the 12th, credit rating agency Moody's said, "Last year, Korea's economic growth rate was sluggish at 1.0%, but this year, it is expected to grow by 1.8% due to an increase in semiconductor exports and a recovery in facility investment following the spread of the global artificial intelligence (AI) economy."
It also predicted that Korea's debt ratio will exceed 60% of GDP in 2030, and warned that "mandatory spending due to the aging population, such as pensions and medical care, as well as the cost of fulfilling strategic obligations under the Korea-U.S. investment agreement, are factors in the increase in national debt."
Moody's gave the outlook a negative outlook, stating that "the debt of public enterprises, including the Korea Trade Finance Corporation and the Export-Import Bank of Korea, will have a negative impact on fiscal soundness, especially given that government debt is largely generated by defense industry expansion and export financing support," and that "the total debt of non-financial public sector (NFPS) enterprises will exceed 17% of GDP in 2024, up from 15% in 2021. Non-financial public sector debt is expected to further pressure overall fiscal soundness."
President Trump announced on his Twitter account on December 10th that he considers the persistent false reporting aimed at defaming and insulting the "President of the United States" to be "incendiary and perhaps treasonous."
The New York Times noted that, regarding the Obamas' depiction of apes, "Little mentioned was the way Trump portrayed himself as the 'king of the jungle.'" It added, "A year after returning to the White House, Trump's efforts to promote himself as a singular, dominant figure in the world have become so commonplace that it no longer feels surprising. He frequently portrays himself in heroic, almost divine, forms: as a monarch, as Superman, as a Jedi knight, as a military hero, even as a pope in a white robe."
He then began mandatorily incorporating "Trump" into the names of all monuments.
In the United States, the Jefferson Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Kennedy Center were built or named after their respective presidents.
Mount Rushmore was carved after Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt were all buried. Calvin Coolidge is the only president to have his face on a coin while in office, and Trump has resurrected the coin with his own face.
The Hoover Dam was the only Dam named during the Great Depression, but the next Roosevelt removed the name and the next Truman restored it. Jennifer Mercieca, a communications professor at Texas A&M University and author of “Presidential Demagogue: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump,” said, “Presidents don’t name things after themselves; people do. There’s a big difference between the two: one is an expression of power and a demand for respect and status, and the other is public recognition of a job well done, and it’s a grateful public that bestows respect and status on the president.”
President Trump has spent his life promoting his personal brand, naming hotels, casinos, airplanes, even steaks, ties, and bottled water after himself, and during his second term, he has veered into a “personality cult” unprecedented in American political history.
The New York Times reported, “Other presidents have cultivated their own reputations, but none have created such a mythic, superhuman, and omnipresent persona that it has led to idolization as Trump.” “His image is prominent throughout the White House, on multi-story banners on the sides of federal buildings, on national park annual passes, and on the dollar coin, and his name is prominent at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the U.S. Institute of Peace, and the Federal Reserve.”
It is engraved on investment accounts, special visas, discount drug programs, and, if all goes well, on Washington Dulles International Airport, New York Penn Station, and the future Washington Commander's Stadium,” the Times reported.
The New York Times reported, “His administration is considering naming a new battleship after him, and his allies are pressuring foreign leaders to support a Nobel Peace Prize and threatening punishment for resistance.” “Some congressional supporters have even proposed adding his face to Mount Rushmore, but so far, no significant progress has been made.”
The president formalized his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize during his presidential campaign, and after his election, he used it as a means to invite Trump to the White House and deliver “official nomination remarks” at summits, pressuring other countries.
Trump’s self-aggrandizing behavior goes beyond mere vanity.
President Trump even called doubts about his health “inflammatory and possibly treasonous” on his Twitter account on December 10. The New York Times said of the Obamas' ape-like portrayal, "What was rarely mentioned was the way Trump portrayed himself as the 'king of the jungle.'"
A year after returning to the White House, Trump's efforts to promote himself as a singularly dominant figure in the world have become so commonplace that they no longer seem surprising. He frequently portrays himself as heroic, almost divine. He described Trump as a monarch, Superman, a Jedi knight, a military hero, and even a pope in a white robe,” he said.
He then began to consistently and figuratively name all monuments after his death.
In the United States, the Jefferson Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Kennedy Center were built or named after the presidents they named after, and Mount Rushmore was carved after Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt were all buried. Calvin Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin while in office, and Trump revived the “his face” coin.
The Hoover Dam was the only one named during the Great Depression while in office, but the next Roosevelt removed the name, and the next Truman restored it.
Jennifer Mercieca, a communications professor at Texas A&M University and author of “Presidential Demagogue: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump,” said, “Presidents are named after themselves.” Instead of building things, people name them after the president. “There’s a big difference between the two: one is an expression of power and a demand for respect and status, and the other is the public’s recognition of a job well done, and it’s a grateful public that bestows respect and status on the president,” he said.
President Trump has spent his life promoting his personal brand, naming hotels, casinos, airplanes, even steaks, ties, and bottled water after himself, and has slid into a “personality cult” unprecedented in American political history during his second term as president.
The New York Times reported, “Other presidents have sought to cultivate fame, but none has cultivated a persona as mythic, superhuman, and omnipresent as Trump, leading to idolatry.” “His image is prominent throughout the White House, on multi-story banners flanking federal buildings, on national park pass passes and the dollar coin, and his name is emblazoned on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the United States Institute of Peace, federal investment accounts, special visas, discount drug programs and, if he gets his way, on Washington Dulles International Airport, New York’s Penn Station and the future stadium of the Washington Commanders.”
The Times reported, “His administration is considering naming a new class of battleships after him, and his allies are pressuring foreign leaders to support the Nobel Peace Prize and threatening punishment for resistance. Some congressional supporters have even proposed adding his face to Mount Rushmore, but so far, no significant progress has been made.”
This president formalized his "Nobel Peace Prize nomination for Trump" during his presidential campaign. After his election, he used this as a catalyst to secure invitations to the White House and deliver "official nomination remarks" at summits, pressuring other countries.
Trump's self-aggrandizing behavior goes beyond mere vanity.
At the National Prayer Breakfast in February, President Trump said, "I have a really big ego," yet no one in the United States commented on this "National Prayer Remarks" or raised any objections.
Regarding the purpose of this remark, presidential historian Michael Beschloss told the New York Times, "This isn't just self-gratification; it's a way to expand presidential power. I think the president believes he's more powerful when he's always present than when he's head down."
The New York Times explained, "What Mr. Trump is really doing is establishing himself as an inescapable force in American society. The cult of personality is traditionally associated with dictators and demagogues, not with democrats."
The New York Times continued, “They are figures like Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Benito Mussolini, and more recently, Vladimir Putin of Russia, who rode his horse topless,” and pointed out that “President Trump doesn’t seem to worry that he might be heading down a dangerous path.”
In fact, at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, President Trump declared that “authoritarianism is not necessarily something to be avoided,” and in his speech, he declared, “Usually, people say, ‘He’s a terrible dictator type of person, and I’m a dictator,’” adding, “But sometimes we need dictators.”
White House Communications Director Stephen Cheng responded in a statement, strongly supporting Trump, saying, “President Trump will go down in history as the most successful and consequential president of our lifetimes.
He built the most powerful political and cultural movement in history. What he accomplished for the American people will be etched into the very fabric of our country and will influence every subsequent White House.”
Presidential speeches avoid using the first-person pronoun "I" as much as possible, but President Trump, through Truth Social, defines everything with "I" and ends with "Make America Great Again."
President Lee's Real Estate X announcement ends with a counter-question, "Should I try?" that reinforces the first-person pronoun "I," so the two frameworks are fundamentally similar in their "command system."
The social media platform, which declared Trump's health concerns "treason," wrote on December 10th of last year, "There has never been a president who worked as hard as I have!" It went on to say, "Under the care and supervision of the best doctors, I gave them perfect scores, and some doctors even said they had never seen such strong results. (Omitted) I passed with perfect scores all three times in front of many doctors and experts, most of whom I don't know. Few people pass this test with a 'perfect score,' and in fact, I've heard that most of them performed very poorly. (Omitted) I think the continued publication of fake news to defame and insult the "President of the United States" is inflammatory, and perhaps even treasonous. They are the true enemies of the people."
On December 3rd, President Lee wrote to X, calling real estate speculators a "cancerous entity" and a "treasonous act."
See <Lee Jae-myung's 'Future Plan' for a National Assembly with Party Member Sovereignty: Current Judicial Branch 'Dominance' Unconstitutional Fascism, September 12, 2025>
<Im Hyuk-baek, Eliminating Obstruction to Party Policy Formation, Revitalizing 'Fascism' by Dominating National Party Members and Local Council Members, March 27, 2024>
<Lee Jae-myung's 'Enforcing Party Members' Will' Abolishes the 'Separation of Powers' in the Democratic Party's Constitution, Neutralizing the National Assembly, May 25, 2024>
<Constitutional Court's Presidential Impeachment Violates 'Representative Democracy'; Lee Jae-myung's 'Party Member Sovereignty Nomination Decision', April 5, 2025>
<Lee Jae-myung's Party Member Sovereignty Coup, Utilizing National Assembly Votes, Abolishes Parliamentary System, March 5, 2025>
<Democratic Party's 'Collective Intelligence Sovereignty of Rightful Party Members': National Treasury Support for Lee Jae-myung's Nazi Party System May 23, 2024>
<Lee Jae-myung's Democratic Party Platform: "Democratic" Party Members Relegated to Subordinate Values, Democracy 'Degraded', August 6, 2024>
<Lee Jae-myung Attacks "Established Democratic Party" with Republican Hardline Conservatism, July 29, 2022>
<Lee Jae-myung Shifts Direct Democracy to a National Mobilization System, Dominating Party Member Sovereignty, 'Political Polarization', January 28, 2025>
<Im Hyuk-baek: Eliminate Obstructions to Party Policy Formation, Dominate National Party Members and Local Council Members, Revive 'Fascism', March 27, 2024>
<Lee Jae-myung and Kim Moon-soo Accelerate Fascist Elections with the National Treasury for the Presidential Election, 'Destruction' of Democratic Suffrage, May 20, 2025>