The image appears after the Trump administration moved to block a toll program in New York City
The US President declaring himself a ‘king’ has caused some critics to question whether the US is being considered a democracy or a monarchy.
On 19 February, 78-year-old Donald Trump used his own social media platform, Truth Social, to write: “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!”
The comment came after the Trump administration moved to end the New York City congestion pricing plan – a program which would see drivers entering the city in some areas being charged.
The White House claimed the US federal government has jurisdiction over roads leading to New York and that the controversial toll would ‘unfairly burden working-class residents in the region’, according to the BBC.
The 47th President of the United States’ statement has been reshared by the official White House X account alongside an illustrated picture in the style of a TIME Magazine cover.
The image depicted Trump wearing a crown and featured the words ‘LONG LIVE THE KING’ in the bottom left-hand corner.
This seemingly computer-generated image has caused a flurry of social media users to comment on the upload.
Taking to X to have their say, one critic wrote: “Isn’t the whole point of America even existing to not have a monarch?”
A second argued: “I thought that we lived in a Democracy, not a Monarchy.”
“We literally fought a revolution to NOT have a king,” replied someone else, referring to the American Revolution, which took place between 1765 and 1783.
JB Pritzker, Illinois’ Democratic Governor, also responded to the faux magazine cover.
He wrote: “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.”
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