“They’re referring to me as a king, I’m not a king.” There we have it, it would seem, straight from the mouth of the 47th President of the United States himself. But a vast gulf of disingenuity separates word and action, and Donald Trump’s disavowal of any monarchical pretensions, as seen in a clipping shared by Fox Business from an interview to be aired today, is almost laughable. Just look at his response to the massive protests he is referring to in the video, the anti-Trump rallies that drew millions across all 50 states of the United States on Saturday: An AI-generated video posted on Truth Social, that shows him, complete with a crown, dumping excrement from an aircraft all over the protestors. There is no softening the let-them-eat-cake tone of the post.
In July 2026, the US will celebrate its 250th Independence Day. Yet over two-and-a-half centuries after the 13 colonies broke away from the British Crown, the “land of the free and home of the brave” is dealing with a familiar kind of tyranny. George III has been succeeded by Donald I — never mind the 250-year interregnum. Not quite “le roi est mort, vive le roi”, but close enough.
And whether Trump actually sports a crown or not is immaterial. What need has he of kingly accoutrements when his writ is now virtual law? Since taking office in January, the US President has arrogated to himself the power to fire anyone he pleases, cut any deals he likes and spend (or, more devastatingly, cut back) as he deems fit — all, of course, by overriding the legislative branch. To courts that seek to exercise their power of oversight, he is openly threatening, as he is to anyone who speaks out against him or his policies. Under Trump, lès-majesté is well on its way to once again being crime: The president has weaponised federal power against vocal critics like his former national security advisor John Bolton (who was indicted under the Espionage Act on Friday for allegedly sharing sensitive government information), former FBI director James Comey (who faces the criminal charges of obstruction of justice and lying to Congress) and New York attorney general Letitia James (who was charged with financial fraud earlier this month). He has repeatedly undermined freedom of speech and expression, including by suing media outlets; among the publications and channels that have been in his crosshairs are The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, CBS and ABC. The cancellation of The Late Show in July is also widely seen as the direct result of Trump’s displeasure over host Stephen Colbert’s mockery of him, as is the brief suspension last month of Jimmy Kimmel’s show.
How does one even respond to a person like this, someone who shouts down disagreement with accusations of treason and gaslights vast numbers of people into believing that he and he alone can “save America”? Whose pronouncements, whether on domestic policy or foreign affairs, are guided more by personal whims than any principle, and whose unpredictability makes it impossible to know for sure who he thinks of as a friend and who he seeks to crush as his foe?
The easy thing is to cave: To flatter and please, to bend the knee and pay tribute in the form of airplanes with gold-plated fixtures and Nobel Peace Prize nominations. World leaders — even those who may have once made a display of their rugged independence, like Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — have taken this route, seeking to placate a man with the power to send the world spinning into economic turmoil. At home, the Grand Old Party has been fully remade in Trump’s image — it is now Republican only in name. Several in the establishment, from Vice President J D Vance to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, have even gone so far as to mimic the sartorial patriotism of the president (bright blue suit, white button-down and red tie).
The American people who poured out onto the streets on Saturday are doing something far more difficult. Let down by their elected representatives — both from the enervated, unimaginative Democrats and the power-drunk Republicans — they have refused to be cowed down, even when confronted by the might of the state. In their exuberant, defiant proclamation — “No Kings!” — is a reclamation of the America that once was.
pooja.pillai@expressindia.com
