US president made comparison after administration rescinded New York City\u2019s congestion pricing plan<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Donald Trump is receiving widespread backlash after he likened himself to a \u201cking\u201d on social media following his administration\u2019s decision to rescind New York City\u2019s congestion pricing program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Wednesday, following a letter<\/a> issued by his transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, to the New York governor, Kathy Hochul, that ended the transportation department\u2019s agreement with New York over a new congestion pricing program for Manhattan, Trump wrote on Truth Social:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York<\/a>, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The White House then proceeded to share<\/a> Trump\u2019s quote on social media, accompanied with a computer-generated image of Trump grinning on a fake Time magazine cover while donning a golden crown, behind him the skyline of New York City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In response to Trump\u2019s comments, Hochul issued a statement, saying<\/a>: \u201cWe are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king.\u201d She added: \u201cPublic transit is the lifeblood of New York City and critical to our economic future \u2013 as a New Yorker, like president Trump, knows very well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She went on to add that the city\u2019s Metropolitan Transportation Authority has initiated legal proceedings in the southern district of New York to preserve the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a separate address to reporters on Wednesday, Hochul said<\/a>: \u201cNew York hasn\u2019t labored under a king in over 250 years. We sure as hell are not going to start now \u2026 In case you don\u2019t know New Yorkers, we\u2019re going to fight. We do not back down, not now, not ever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Justin Brannan, a New York City council member, also condemned Trump\u2019s statement, and referred to the Trump-appointed justice department that ordered<\/a> prosecutors to drop their federal corruption case against the city\u2019s mayor, Eric Adams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDoesn\u2019t matter what [yo]u think of congestion pricing, federal government doesn\u2019t get to make this decision. NY State passed a law, USDOT approved it. No matter what corrupt deal Donald Trump made with the Mayor, he isn\u2019t king. Only fools concede to false power. It\u2019s an illusion,\u201d Brannan said<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Similarly, Don Beyer, a Democratic representative of Virginia, wrote<\/a> on X: \u201cWe don\u2019t have kings in the USA.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, David Hogg, vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee, wrote<\/a>: \u201cRepublicans: Stop overreacting and calling Trump a king. Literally the White House twitter account:\u201d as he reposted a picture of the computer-generated magazine of Trump with the crown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Additionally, as the White House shared the photo of Trump, Illinois\u2019s Democratic governor, JB Pritzker, delivered<\/a> a State of the State address in which he said: \u201cAs governor of Illinois, my oath is to the constitution of our state and our nation. We don\u2019t have kings in America, and I won\u2019t bend the knee to one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n