i can't imagine donald trump knows any quotes from napoleon bonaparte himself, but what do you make oft over the weekend? >> well, first of. >> all, from. francisco franco to mussolini. >> who even. >> wrote a play about. >> napoleon to berlusconi to pinochet. >> many. >> many strongmen have an obsession. >> with napoleon, and they. forget that he ended. >> up on a tiny island, kind of. >> you know, away from everybody. after everything. >> crashed and. >> burned. >> what they remember. >> is the glory. >> but this. >> is a. >> very dangerous. >> quote, because. >> the old. >> fiction of. >> the strongman. >> is the savior of the nation, and that justifies anything that he. >> might need. >> to do. >> regardless of how lawful or lawless it is. that's that's what he's selling to americans at the moment. >> yeah. i mean, and rev donald trump, you are the one who knows him. i am not, but you haven't written a book about him. i mean, he is very suggestible and it is clear that someone is telling him william mckinley is the president. you should you should, you know, pattern yourself after

now we know it came from napoleon bonaparte. that kind of tells you all you need to know, right? >> that's exactly right. >> i mean, i'm. >> sure donald trump doesn't. >> know where it came. >> from. but but yes, that's exactly right. it is the statement. of a dictator. >> being uttered, or. >> in this. >> case, written. >> on social. >> media by a wannabe dictator. we have known that he wants to be a dictator because he has told. us that. he said he wanted to be a dictator on day one. well, he took. >> a number of. actions that were. >> consistent with that. >> we know that he said that you don't. >> have to. worry about elections. >> in the future. >> well, i. >> think we're going to. >> see. >> unfortunately. >> more of him. >> attacking free. >> and fair elections. >> as, as. >> we move through. >> the year. >> but he. >> is. >> acting as. >> if. >> somehow. number one, he is saving. >> the country. >> rather than destroying it. >> but number. >> two, that he is. >> above the law. >> and in this country, no man is above the law. >> even donald trump is not above. >> the law.

noting that that line has sometimes been attributed to the french emperor and military leader, napoleon bonaparteining us now reporter for the washington post, emily davies. she covers the federal government's impact in the d.c. area. so, emily, let's talk about that. the impact of these cuts, how and when might workers be feeling them? >> it's a good question. >> i mean, a lot. >> of. >> federal workers have already started to feel. >> the impact. >> of. those cuts. as you. >> mentioned, almost. >> 200,000 people are eligible for firing, and at least 15,000 of those probationary employees have already been fired. >> a lot of people. >> who are still in the federal workforce are looking at their colleagues, looking at. >> empty desks. >> next to them, and are wondering if their next. >> you make the point here. federal workers are being fired in group calls, pre-recordings emails delivered in the middle of the night and on weekends. so it's not just that they're losing their jobs, it's that it seems to be happening in a really haphazard and pretty chaotic way. that's completely true. >> i talked

the phrase "he who saves his country does not violate any law" is attributed to napoleon bonaparte, althoughis apparently a fake quote. yes, we all know what napoleon actually said: "waterloo! couldn't escape if i wanted to! a-whoa a-whoa a-whoa a-whoa." trump does have some 'good' qualities. for instance, he's petty and vindictive. nope, that's bad again. remember that stupid thing where trump unilaterally renamed the gulf of mexico 'the gulf of america?' and said now everybody's gotta say it like he says it? well, the associated press keeps calling it "the gulf of mexico." 'cuz that's what it's called. so on friday the a.p. were banned from the oval office and air force one indefinitely. you can't get mad at the a.p. for not using your stupid name. the thing you should get mad at the a.p. about is not using the oxford comma in their style guide. and we all know what the oxford comma is, say it with me: it is the comma before the final conjunction in a list of three or more things. if i invited sam, sally and tom to a party, without the oxford comma, how do i know if sally and tom are a cou

want to ask about that president trump's truth social features napoleon bonaparte quote saying he whoy does not violate any law. as become the left's latest ammunitlatestammunition and vil. >> the president lisa follow the law donald trump a shutting government down as we speak. >> we have seen a clear disregard for the checks and balances set up in the federal government. >> in their minds a judge is illegitimate. >> then we need to worry about mussolini, italy or at hitler's germany. >> trumps that only days ago he does affect plant on abiding by the law. he said this. >> i always abide by the courts and then i will have to appeal it. what he has done he slow down the momentum. >> affected many people wonder if that one's not following the law are actually those on the left to have relentlessly gone after trump over the past four years with questionable cases then trump talks about waiting pickwick it's unbelievable that is the attack line democrats are going with. when we talk about fascist governments that talk about fascism once less himself fascist government that actually shrin

napoleon bonaparte, of course, declared himself emperor of france in the wake of a revolution.h ours. sorry, katie. i know this is a rough day for you. given 1776 through the caddy. actually has a un yorktown. she wears black. the anniversary. but what? what the point of the united states of america, as thomas paine said, is that in america, the law would be king. now, i am not going to naively or sentimentally sit here and say that no american president in history has ever gone beyond the bounds of the constitution in order to govern. they have always followed the letter of the law. that is not true, right? thomas jefferson bought louisiana from napoleon, by the way, calling it a fugitive occurrence. it was not strictly within the bounds of the law. if alexander hamilton had tried to do it, jefferson would. his head would have exploded. but because people tend to be against executive power until they have it, which is an important thing to remember. this is about context, balance, and scope. do did abraham lincoln go beyond the bounds of the constitution to save the constituti

past saturday president trump made heads spin on the left when he used a quote attributed to napoleon bonaparterump. wanting to be a king. it had me reaching though for history books. i already consider myself a history buff, but i marvel at how little i know. interestingly, we hear more quotes attributed to historical figures and events than, i think, ever before. but there are a couple of problems with this. a, we may not like our heroes as much as we thought. liberals fell in love with the play hamilton, but i wouldn't be surprised if they start to fall out of love as they learn maybe some of these trump tariff policies are very similar to hamilton's. and then, b, what gets me is my other point, maybe we just don't know enough about a history to use it, certainly when we're trying to put others down. that must be the takeaway from margaret brennan, right, who linked the holocaust to free speech on sunday. i mean, golly. amazingly, brennan hadn't learned the lesson from al sharpton in 2023. >> one day our children's children will read american history, and you imagine if our reading james mad

it is purported to be something from the french emperor napoleon bonaparte, something he once said, thoughus. in any case, napoleon was no champion of democracy or the rule of law. the emperor part sort of gives it away. presidents, on the other hand, are supposed to be. they even say so out loud before taking the job. >> and will, to the best of my ability, and. >> will to the best of my ability. >> preserve, protect and defend. >> preserve, protect and defend. >> the constitution of the united states. >> the constitution of the united states. >> so help me god. >> so help me god. >> so how to square that with? so help me god. unless i'm saving the country, then all bets are off, because that's what the president seems to be suggesting. and with more than a dozen court cases now pending against a slew of administration orders and actions, that's not all he is saying. in just the last couple of weeks, he has said that judges should not be telling the executive branch what to do. >> judges should be ruling. they shouldn't be dictating what you're supposed to be doing. >> he has said judges

he basically invoked napoleon bonaparte during his reign as emperor. and it's pretty telling about what this basically entails, that a leader perhaps is above the law. what are you reading into this? because many are concerned we're already seeing a constitutional crisis playing out in the united states. >> of course, that's even more concerning, given the supreme court's recent ruling that presidents essentially have broad immunity for any official acts and even acts that kind of border between public and private. but this is donald trump. it's nothing new. certainly, he has made explicit and implicit claims that he wants to be a dictator. i think some of that is hyperbole. but you're right. we're careening closer and closer if to not a constitutional crisis, at least an impasse. and i think many of these claims are going to have to get adjudicated by the courts. at the end of the day, you know, essentially the executive is claiming this this notion of almost complete power over federal agencies. but the article one of the constitution says very expli

so i would say that by my standards, napoleon bonaparte probably qualifies as the first titan. david: maybe the titan of the 19th century? michael: certainly the titan of the 19th century. and by my estimation, by my definition, probably the only one. david: let's look forward. into this century. where do you see the potential, not individual characters, but the potential to have a titan? what's needed? what's present or not? michael: what is needed is extraordinary social, political and economic disruption. and disruption is almost always painful and destructive. so it's not something we should look forward to. we have important leaders in the 21st century, and we had important leaders in the second half of the 20th century, about whom i'm now writing a sequel to "the titans of the twentieth century." but they didn't make as broad and deep an imprint on their times and on our times as did the people that i profile in this book because they didn't have the same opportunity. they didn't have the same political, economic and social vacuums. and it's not necessarily a bad thing th

. >> well, that was from the 1970 movie waterloo, about french emperor and military leader napoleon bonaparte. and now president donald trump. well, he kind of seems to be echoing that line pinned to the top of the top of trump's account. is this cryptic post he who saves his country does not violate any law. now it comes as he spent the first few weeks of his second term seemingly attempting to reshape the inner workings of the federal government and testing the scope of executive authority. his efforts have not gone without some pushback. his agenda facing a number of legal challenges. but as cnn chief supreme court analyst joan biskupic writes, vice president jd vance elon musk and others in the trump administration are openly challenging the centuries old power of the nation's judiciary, foreshadowing a possible constitutional breakdown of american government. and over the weekend, minnesota democratic senator amy klobuchar was asked about this. >> are we in a constitutional crisis? we're not quite there yet, because ultimately, when the final court order is made, the trump administration