‘Literally the most un-American thing’: Donald Trump calls himself ‘King’ and brings proof to match the title
The official White House X account published a digital portrait of President Donald Trump. The photo of Trump was undoubtedly stately, but definitely not presidential.
The White House captioned the photo with, “Congestion pricing is dead. Manhattan, and all of New York, is saved. Long live the king!” President Trump is quoted by the account as the source of that statement. It seems that even the president himself couldn’t resist the allure of calling himself a king. The controversial portrait attached to the tweet was a digital portrait that resembles a Time magazine cover. In the photo was Trump wearing a crown—the city behind him is implied to be New York City.
Social media largely criticized Trump’s photo for being undemocratic. One X user worriedly tweeted in response to Trump’s portrait. They pointed out that Trump claimed to be the sole interpreter of the law. Now, he’s declaring himself to be a king. Both were social media posts from Trump’s Truth Social account, but they’re nonetheless concerning to hear from an elected president of the United States. As that X user puts it:
Trump’s supporters on social media weren’t so concerned. On the other hand, they merely view this charade as a troll post from their president. Some of them even openly relish the fact that there are people concerned over Trump’s messaging. Simply put, Trump can’t do wrong, and the opposition just has “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
The MAGA crowd also thought that Trump rightfully deserved the title of king after getting rid of congestion pricing in New York. “FACT CHECK: Trump used to be known as the “King of New York” in the 80’s and 90’s. That is the reference,” said one Trump supporter online. “This also references Trump ending “congestion pricing” in New York which would have charged workers $9 per day just to enter Manhattan.”
There was frustration about congestion pricing among New York’s commuters. Particularly, passenger vehicles will have to pay nine dollars just to enter Manhattan by 60th Street during peak hours. While traffic is a major concern in the city, commuters would’ve had to shell out extra because of these tolls.
However, in the photo, Trump is wearing a crown as the supposed president of the United States. It would be difficult for the average person to interpret that Trump is “just” the king of New York City. Context is important, but there’s no twist to be had when Trump labeled himself as, generally, a king. There was no explicit mention of being the “king” of NYC in his post.
Unfortunately, people will see what they want to see. Regardless of the reason, they will defend someone whom they’ve pledged their allegiance to. Meanwhile, the Constitution itself rebukes aristocratic titles in practice and principle. Trump may not have formally adopted the title of king, but he’s far too confident with marketing himself as one. Perhaps a king that delivers is all that matters to some of his supporters—a style of clientelist politics. It doesn’t matter if democratic principles are eroded and imposing speech becomes the norm so long as these elected officials give handouts to appease the mob.
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