Whoa. This is a story in three parts:
Part 1) Trump nukes NYC congestion tolls to the delight of working-class New Yorkers who were hard hit by the unpopular fees.
Part 2) Trump freaks out hysterical leftists by referencing himself as “king.”
Part 3) Gov. Kathy Hochul, who loves congestion pricing, has a (figurative) coronary and vows, “We’ll see you in court.”
Let’s start with the most fun part, where Trump sent progressives searching for their smelling salts. He is truly “King of the Troll”:
“CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!”
–President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/IMr4tq0sMB— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 19, 2025
Of course, Trump presenting himself as a king got the knickers of many folks in a twist—including some Republicans who weren’t amused. Hochul, meanwhile, said in a snitty retort, “We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king.”
My take on these sorts of provocative posts by the president is that they are done on purpose with the full knowledge of the outrage they will fire up in some quarters. There are several reasons for this: 1) He’s very possibly the funniest president we’ve ever had, with the exception perhaps of Ronald Reagan, and 2) he enjoys watching the meltdown because it causes leftists to go into hysterics and make utter fools out of themselves.
Some have argued that, seeing as the NYC skyline is in the back of the meme, he means he’s the King of New York, which is both the title of a movie and a phrase. It could be construed as a clapback at the city and state that he feels has treated him so poorly over the last decade.
But does anyone truly believe his goal is to bring back monarchy to the United States?
The folks at CNN this Wednesday night are presumably on their second tissue box, and you know the harridans on “The View” will be sputtering and flipping out Thursday. The more the left goes into histrionic paroxysms, the sillier they look—and he knows it.
Meanwhile, while they’re busy worried that the president is trying to create a new kingdom, he cuts a few more billion from the budget and axes a few more social justice programs from the federal government.
Now to the other part of the story, Hochul’s congestion pricing (basically another tax on the already overburdened workers of the Big Apple):
They finally caught a brake. [Well played, NY Post.]
Working class New Yorkers rejoiced Wednesday that congestion pricing was axed by the Trump administration — saying the much-loathed driving toll was a big financial burden.
“I’m ecstatic,” said Paul Belli, who owns a plumbing business in Brooklyn. “Nobody needs this. Everyone has high inflation they’re dealing with already.”
Belli said he has “spent thousands” on the toll since the controversial fee to drive into Manhattan below 60th Street went into effect six weeks ago — in part because plumbers have on-the-job equipment that require them to drive to work. The US Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration announced Wednesday it had terminated approval of the program, which aimed to reduce traffic and travel time while raising billions for the MTA.
The transit agency quickly responded by suing to keep the toll in place.
The scheme, which went into effect Jan. 5, irked many blue collar folks — who said they need vehicles for their jobs, or that taking public transit doubles their commuting time.
The NY GOP heartily approved:
HUGE news: @realDonaldTrump is CANCELLING Kathy Hochul’s NYC congestion tax!
Thank you, President Trump, for killing this unfair burden on hardworking New Yorkers.
Full statement from @ChairmanEdCox: pic.twitter.com/YssGJijmlr
— New York GOP (@NewYorkGOP) February 19, 2025
Of course, since we’re at the point where someone files a lawsuit when Trump blows his nose, the governor has already promised litigation to save her latest effort at emptying the wallets of her constituents:
We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king. pic.twitter.com/PikwB5OwnM
— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) February 19, 2025
“We’ll see you in court,” she concludes. In the meantime, Trump will presumably keep blowing minds.
