Days ahead of the militaristic parade he has ordered up for his 79th birthday, President Donald Trump has denied having any monarchical pretensions even as he continues to face questions over his use of American soldiers and marines to help put down protests over his harsh immigration enforcement efforts.
Speaking in the East Room during an impromptu press conference after signing legislation to block California’s ability to regulate vehicle emissions and push for more electric vehicle sales in an effort to protect the state’s air quality, Trump was asked about protests planned for Saturday as part of what organizers are calling “No Kings Day” to coincide with the parade, which is ostensibly meant to mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army.
Trump replied: “I don't feel like a king” and proceeded to complain that he must “go through hell” to get anything done under America’s constitutional system, which strictly divides the federal government’s authority between executive, legislative and judicial branches.
Seemingly ignorant of reforms to the British monarchy starting with the Magna Carta in 1215, Trump opined that a king would never have had to suffer then indignity of asking for legislation to be enacted to nix California’s vehicle regulations.
“He wouldn't have to call up [House Speaker] Mike Johnson and tune and say, fellas, you got to pull this off, and after years, we get it done,” he said.
“No, no, we're not a king. We're not a king at all.”
In fact, Trump has suggested that he should be regarded as an American monarch on at least one occasion since he returned to office for a second term this past January.
In February, he took to Truth Social to declare himself “king” after his administration purported to strike down new tolls for Manhattan drivers to raise funds for the city’s aging mass transit system.
“CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD,” he wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday. “Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!”
The White House’s X account then shared his statement with a mock cover of Time magazine featuring a portrait of the president wearing a crown with the caption “long live the king.”
White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich also shared an AI-generated image of the president wearing a crown and regal cape on his own official X account.
Trump’s comments came at the tail end of a nearly 90-minute stemwinder of rambling remarks delivered to a crowd of supporters and Republican members of Congress as he prepared to sign a trio of resolutions making use of the Congressional Review Act to strike down Environmental Protection Agency waivers that had allowed the Golden State to set car emissions standards that have long been more strict than federal vehicle standards.
One of them purported to nix a state regulation that would have required the vast majority of cars sold in the state to be electric vehicles or plug-in hybrid models starting in 2038, a goal which auto industry executives have called unworkable.
The president said he was going to “officially rescue the US auto industry from destruction by terminating California Electric Vehicle mandate once and for all” and complained how regulations devised in Sacramento had American automakers “tied up in knots for years.”
“They'd pass these crazy rules in California, and what it would be 17 states would go by them, the automakers didn't know what to do, because they're really building cars for two countries,” he said.
Trump slammed the previous Biden administration for approving the waivers, which he characterized as giving the Golden State “dictatorial powers to control the future of the entire car industry, all over the country, all over the world” and singled out Governor Gavin Newsom for having come up with a “ridiculous plan to impose a 100% ban on all new gas powered cars within a very short period of time.”
He also claimed that California lacked the electricity to support so many electric vehicles before pivoting to criticizing Newsom over him not being harsh enough against protesters who have come out to oppose the administration’s mass deportation efforts in the days since Trump White House officials ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to target suspected illegal immigrants at convenience stores and near home repair supply stores.
Over the weekend, Trump federalized California National Guard soldiers over Newsom’s objection and ordered the deployment of active duty Marines to help quell protests over his immigration enforcement. He claimed his actions, which Newsom has sued to halt, prevented widespread rioting and arson across Los Angeles, the country’s second-largest city.
“I didn't bring the military in Los Angeles would be burning down right now. Be burning just like his damn houses burned down because he didn't have the water that he should have had,” he said.
Continuing, the president also accused Newsom and California authorities of wanting to use the state’s strict vehicle emissions standards to “effectively abolish the internal combustion engine” and “shatter our domestic supply chains and literally grind civilization to a halt” by pushing for use of electric trucks used for long-haul shipping.
Though Newsom and his state government have pushed back on the use of Congressional Review Act powers to strike down EPA waivers, Trump claimed nothing can be done to stop what he has signed into law.
“They can't take us to court. They can't do any of the things they can do with the executive orders. And it's permanent. I'll sign three pieces of legislation that will kill the California mandates forever, and they're never coming back,” he said.
