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Trump Declares Himself King as He Kills Congestion Pricing in New York

Donald Trump claimed Wednesday that he has ended New York’s congestion pricing , boasting in all caps that he “SAVED” the city in a Truth Social post that ended with the declaration “LONG LIVE THE KING!”

Truth Social screenshot Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump: CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING! Feb 19, 2025, 1:58 PM

Six weeks ago, the city of New York launched a program to enact tolls on cars in the central business district of Manhattan south of 60th Street. On Wednesday, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy sent a letter to New York Governor Kathy Hochul overturning the Federal Highway Administration’s approval of the program.

During his presidential campaign, former New York resident Trump promised to end the program, and at one point, even Hochul wasn’t in favor of it. But in November, the governor revived the plan, and after it went into effect this year, the program got positive reviews. Traffic was reduced, public transportation received a boost, and greenhouse gas emissions and pollution went down. 

But that didn’t have any effect on the Trump administration. Duffy wrote in his letter that he  shares “the President’s concerns about the impacts to working class Americans who now have an additional financial burden,” and said the highway administration would work with the program’s sponsors “to discuss the orderly cessation of toll operations under this terminated pilot program.”

Hochul replied swiftly with a statement of her own posted to her X account, saying, “We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king.”

X screenshot Governor Kathy Hochul @GovKathyHochul We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king. with screenshot of longer statement on congestion pricing: “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. “Since this first-in-the-nation program took effect last month, congestion has dropped dramatically and commuters are getting to work faster than ever. Broadway shows are selling out and foot traffic to local businesses is spiking. School buses are getting kids to class on time, and yellow cab trips increased by 10 percent. Transit ridership is up, drivers are having a better experience, and support for this program is growing every day. “We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king. The MTA has initiated legal proceedings in the Southern District of New York to preserve this critical program. We’ll see you in court.”

“We’ll see you in court,” Hochul added, announcing that the Metropolitan Transit Authority had initiated legal action to save the program.

Trump’s action seems to be an attempt to stir up the right-wing’s blind support of car culture, as well as a vindictive effort aimed at his hometown and former place of residence, which has spurned him ever since he entered politics. It remains to be seen how the fight over congestion pricing will play out in court, but only a president as petty as Trump would try to dictate a city’s traffic laws.