President Trump told Axios on Thursday that he has discovered "no limits" to his presidential power, a claim that extends far beyond typical executive authority talk. In remarks hours after departing what he described as a "very dominant" G7 summit in France, Trump sketched a vision of himself operating in the upper reaches of world history.
A forthcoming book by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan offers the most granular look yet at how Trump frames his own authority. In "Regime Change," releasing Tuesday, the authors document Trump displaying a document that argues he surpasses figures like Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Stalin, Mao, and Hitler in raw power.
"They didn't have airplanes, right? You couldn't travel around," Trump explained, referring to historical conquerers and noting modern transportation as a source of his comparative advantage. The authors note that Trump "began reading from it, reciting the names of some of history's most powerful figures" and how each fell short by his measure.
What struck Haberman and Swan most was Trump's comfort in that company. They write that "the evident pleasure he took in the company of Mao, Hitler, and Stalin" and "the untroubled ease with which he accepted a place among men who had reshaped the world through conquest and fear" revealed something fundamental about how Trump understands leadership and dominance.
In the Axios interview, Trump repeatedly measured power through submission. G7 leaders believed him when he said "I'm the boss," he claimed. Israel "has a lot of respect for me" and will "do as I say," he added. He singled out China's Xi Jinping and India's Narendra Modi as the world leaders he most admires, calling Xi "all business" and Modi "a very tough cookie."
Trump views alliances through a similar lens. When pressed on his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said it was "good, but we have to keep him a little bit sane." On his Iran negotiations, which drew fury from Republican hawks, Trump dismissed critics who once commanded his respect. "Some guys that I used to respect, I don't respect anymore. They're hardliners," he said.
Even when defending the Iran deal against demands for tougher terms, Trump relied on his own framing of reality, insisting the outcome amounts to "unconditional surrender" by Iran and constitutes "regime change."
The one constraint Trump acknowledged is economic. He argued that extending conflict to satisfy hardline demands could trigger a "worldwide depression," and he pointed to falling oil prices and a strong stock market as vindication. "I have one primary wish as president," he said, invoking President Herbert Hoover. "I never want to be the late, great Herbert Hoover."
Trump shared the "Great Men" document on Truth Social, crediting its author as a "presidential historian." Haberman and Swan reveal the actual author was Gary Player's longtime caddy and personal confidant, a detail that undercuts the document's stated authority.
The document's conclusion stands unambiguous: Trump's willingness to deploy his power globally "makes him by far the most powerful person that has EVER walked this planet."
Author James Rodriguez: "Trump's habit of recasting his own power through historical comparison isn't new, but the shamelessness of it has escalated, and the fact that he's now openly circulating documents making this case shows how central this mythology has become to how he sees himself in office."
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