Trump receives widespread backlash to social post calling himself ‘king'
On Wednesday, following a letter issued by his transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, to the New York governor, Kathy Hochul, that ended the transportation department's agreement with New York over a new congestion pricing program for Manhattan, Trump wrote on Truth Social:
'CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!'
The White House then proceeded to share Trump's 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.
In response to Trump's comments, Hochul issued a statement, saying: 'We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king.' She added: 'Public transit is the lifeblood of New York City and critical to our economic future – as a New Yorker, like president Trump, knows very well.'
She went on to add that the city's Metropolitan Transportation Authority has initiated legal proceedings in the southern district of New York to preserve the program.
In a separate address to reporters on Wednesday, Hochul said: 'New York hasn't labored under a king in over 250 years. We sure as hell are not going to start now … In case you don't know New Yorkers, we're going to fight. We do not back down, not now, not ever.'
Justin Brannan, a New York City council member, also condemned Trump's statement, and referred to the Trump-appointed justice department that ordered prosecutors to drop their federal corruption case against the city's mayor, Eric Adams.
Sign up to Headlines US
Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning
after newsletter promotion
'Doesn't matter what u think of congestion pricing, federal government doesn't 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't king. Only fools concede to false power. It's an illusion,' Brannan said.
Similarly, Don Beyer, a Democratic representative of Virginia, wrote on X: 'We don't have kings in the USA.'
Meanwhile, David Hogg, vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee, wrote: 'Republicans: Stop overreacting and calling Trump a king. Literally the White House twitter account:' as he reposted a picture of the computer-generated magazine of Trump with the crown.
Additionally, as the White House shared the photo of Trump, Illinois's Democratic governor, JB Pritzker, delivered a State of the State address in which he said: 'As governor of Illinois, my oath is to the constitution of our state and our nation. We don't have kings in America, and I won't bend the knee to one.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
29 minutes ago
- The Independent
Latest PS5 news is not great for gamers
Sony has announced a $50 price increase for all PlayStation 5 models sold in the United States, effective from 21 August. The company cited mounting financial pressure from newly imposed tariffs under the Trump administration as the reason for the "difficult decision". Under the revised pricing, the standard PS5 will now retail for 549.99, the Digital Edition for $499.99 and the PS5 Pro for $749.99. Trump's tariffs, which came into effect on 1 August, impose up to 25 per cent duties on Japanese electronics, costing Sony an estimated $685 million annually. Sony has diversified its supply chain by moving US-bound console manufacturing outside China, aligning with competitors like Microsoft and Nintendo who have also raised prices due to tariffs.
Times
an hour ago
- Times
Trump calls on Fed's Lisa Cook to quit over mortgage fraud claim
President Trump stepped up his efforts to gain influence over the US central bank on Wednesday, calling on Lisa Cook, a Federal Reserve governor, to resign. Trump has told aides he is considering firing Cook after allegations made by one of his political allies about mortgages she holds in Michigan and Georgia, The Wall Street Journal reported. Bill Pulte, US Federal Housing Finance Agency director, alleged in a post on X on Wednesday that Cook had designated an apartment in Atlanta as her primary residence after taking a loan on her home in Michigan, which she also declared as a primary residence. Pulte told CNBC he is also investigating property Cook has in Massachusetts.
.jpeg%3Ftrim%3D39%2C0%2C40%2C0%26width%3D1200%26height%3D800%26crop%3D1200%3A800&w=3840&q=100)
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Fox News' Mark Levin defends Trump calling himself a ‘war hero': ‘Let me educate the truly stupid'
Shortly after Donald Trump brazenly declared himself a 'war hero' on Tuesday – despite famously never serving in the military – former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger derided the president's remarks before noting that 'his people are going to find a way to justify this.' It didn't take long for Mark Levin to answer that challenge. 'YES, TRUMP IS A WAR HERO,' the Fox News host – who also serves on the president's Homeland Security Advisory Council – tweeted on Wednesday. It was on Levin's radio show where the president delivered his self-declaration of heroism in battle, which was in the context of Trump and Levin – an outspoken supporter of Israel – lauding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Describing the Israeli leader as a 'good man' who is 'in there fighting,' Trump went on to praise Netanyahu as a 'war hero' before bestowing that title upon himself. 'He's a war hero, cause we worked together, he's a war hero,' Trump said while chuckling. 'I guess I am, too. Nobody cares, but I am, too. You know, I sent those planes.' The president was referring to the United States joining Israel in its military air campaign against Iran in June, which resulted in American bombers striking three critical nuclear enrichment facilities. Throughout the interview, the president grumbled that he hadn't been given enough credit for the airstrikes – which he's repeatedly claimed 'obliterated' Iran's nuclear capabilities – or other foreign policy accomplishments. 'Let me educate the truly stupid in the grotesquely moronic media and their crackpot surrogates, since President Trump made the war hero comments on my radio show last evening,' Levin posted on X amid criticism of Trump's claiming to be a war hero. Levin, who privately advised Trump to take military action against Iran and raged against MAGA critics of the airstrikes, went on to justify his position by citing past presidents and their achievements as commander-in-chief. 'There are lots of presidents who are war heroes who did not actually fight in a war. Reagan defeated the Soviet Union,' the conservative pundit continued. 'War hero. FDR defeated the Axis powers. War hero. Lincoln won the Civil War. War hero. Trump destroyed Iran's nuclear facilities and everything with them -- which Bush 41 and 43, Clinton, Obama, and Biden said they would prevent, but failed to do. Trump stopped Iran's nuclear threat to the United States in its tracks. He gave the order. He is the commander-in-chief. War hero.' Additionally, Levin also defended the president's description of Netanyahu as a 'war hero.' Unlike Trump, who never served in uniform, Netanyahu was a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces who fought in both the Yom Kippur War and the 1967-1970 War of Attrition, and was injured several times in combat. 'AND congratulations to President Trump for also recognizing Prime Minister Netanyahu as a war hero. He most certainly is,' Levin blared on X. 'Now, back to the quislings and Hamas/Iran mouthpieces in the media and their crackpot surrogates.' The International Criminal Court, meanwhile, has accused Netanyahu of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, issuing an arrest warrant for him and Israel's former defense minister Yoav Gallant last November. Israel has slammed those allegations, and the United States has backed Netanyahu by imposing sanctions on several of the court's judges in retaliation. As for Trump's self-annointing himself as a war hero, Kinzinger – who served in the Air National Guard and flew missions in Iraq and Afghanistan – pointed out that the president declined the opportunity to don the uniform when he had the chance. 'You can like what he's done. That's fine. I hope he gets a resolution in Ukraine,' Kinzinger said Tuesday night during a CNN interview. 'But to put himself on the same level of people that have actually gone out and served this country, not claimed bone spurs, is an offense to anybody who served.' Kinzinger was referencing the multiple deferments that Trump received during the Vietnam War, one of which was for having 'bone spurs' while the others were for attending college. 'And frankly, you just take somebody that served, calling themselves a war hero, even that would be inappropriate. For a guy that never served to say it, it's nuts,' he added. 'But somebody, they'll defend it, they'll find a way.' Beyond that, early in Trump's first campaign for president, he infamously mocked the late Sen. John McCain's service during the Vietnam War, which saw the former Navy pilot held captive and tortured for nearly six years in the notorious prison camp known as the 'Hanoi Hilton.' 'He's not a hero,' Trump exclaimed in 2015, sparking intense backlash at the time. 'He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured, OK? I hate to tell you that.' During his first term, Trump also came under fire after The Atlantic reported that during a 2018 trip to France, he scrapped plans to attend the commemoration for the 100th anniversary of World War I at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, fearing his hair would be mussed because of expected rain. 'Why should I go to that cemetery? It's filled with losers,' Trump reportedly said, adding later that Marines who died in battle were 'suckers.' While the president has repeatedly denied he said that, calling it 'disinformation' and 'fake news,' his then-chief of staff John Kelly – a former commander of U.S. Southern Command who lost his son in Afghanistan – insisted Trump did make those remarks.
