no one is accusing trump of being a knowledgeable statesman.

That was actually you who linked them, not him. And they shouldn't be linked. Executive orders are not a dictatorship. But let's say he meant, even though he's famous for saying what he means with no filter.

Even after campaigning for it, holding the office for 4 years, presumably keeping an eye on his successor for 4 years, and now campaigning for it again? You'd think he'd know the basics of what is a democracy, what is a dictatorship, what executive orders do, and what do the different branches of government roughly do...you know, the basics that were taught in middle school, and elaborated on in high school. These aren't niche laws or obscure cases we're talking about, but what should be common sense to the common man...much more so for someone who's running for the job. Willful ignorance is not an excuse, especially at that level...if that's what this is.

they are literally creating policy by dictate. your pet definition seems crafted to exclude this obvious use of dictate.

Someone who "dictates" is not necessarily a dictator. These are not my "pet definitions" but accepted definitions of what a dictator/dictatorship is in the political sphere. It's called context.

No one in the government should say "I'm going to dictate policy that I have control over, but this policy can be overturned by the other two branches. Thus, I'm a dictator." That's not what that word means. You are trying to use a nonspecific definition out of context to justify defending a wannabe dictator.