The White House has declared president Donald Trump a “king” for ending New York congestion pricing, on the same day Trump branded Ukraine’s president Zelensky a “dictator”.

The Trump administration announced on Wednesday (19 February) that it will rescind approval of New York City’s congestion pricing programme that is designed to reduce traffic in Manhattan, as well as upgrading the subway and bus systems.

The system has only been in place since 5 January, after being blocked last year, however the federal government has now moved to end the programme. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) immediately sued the government in an effort to block the decision.

Soon after the move to end the programme was made, Donald Trump posted on Truth Social likening himself to a “king”.

“CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!” He wrote.

The White House then shared Trump’s quote on social media, accompanied by an AI image of the president on a fake Time Magazine cover, wearing a golden crown.

Donald Trump was widely condemned for both ending the programme and describing himself as a “king”, with New York governor Kathy Hochul stating: “New York hasn’t laboured under a king in over 250 years. We sure as hell are not going to start now.”

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.”

Justin Brannan, a New York City council member, also condemned Trump ending the congestion pricing programme, writing on Twitter/X: “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.”

Illinois’ Democratic governor, JB Pritzker, also stated: “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.”

When did Trump call Ukraine’s president Zelensky a ‘dictator’?

Donald Trump was criticised for hailing himself as a “king” while on the same day branding Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator”.

Speaking in Florida, Trump reportedly called Zelensky a “dictator”, echoing the sentiment in a Truth Social post about the Ukrainian president.

“He refuses to have elections. He’s low in the real Ukrainian polls. How can you be high with every city being demolished?” The BBC reported Trump as saying.

President Zelensky’s five-year term was due to come to an end in May 2024. However, as Ukraine is currently under martial law since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, elections are suspended.

Trump also claimed the Ukrainian president only had a 4 per cent approval rating, however BBC research found that 57 per cent of Ukrainians said they trusted the president.

In a Truth Social post, president Trump said Zelensky “has done a terrible job, his country is shattered, and MILLIONS have unnecessarily died.”

Trump’s comments came after Zelensky reportedly accused the US president of “living in a disinformation space”.

Prime minister Keir Starmer has spoken out in support of Zelensky since Trump’s comments, with a Downing Street spokesperson claiming Starmer “expressed his support for President Zelensky as Ukraine’s democratically elected leader”.

The spokesperson added that it was “perfectly reasonable to suspend elections during war time as the UK did during World War Two.”

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