President Trump bristled on Thursday at the mention of a series of “No Kings” protests against his administration scheduled for the day of his planned military parade in Washington — coinciding with his 79th birthday.
“I don’t feel like a king, I have to go through hell to get stuff approved,” Mr. Trump said to laughter from an audience of Republican lawmakers and political allies in the White House, arguing in essence that the opposition he faces from Democrats proves that he is not able to rule like a king.
He continued, “A king would say ‘I’m not going to get this.’ A king wouldn’t even have the California mandate to even be talking,” referring to the joint resolutions of Congress that he had just signed blocking California’s effort to phase out gasoline-powered vehicles.
“No, no. We’re not a king,” Mr. Trump said. “We’re not a king at all, thank you very much.”
In February, Mr. Trump likened himself to a king in another fight with Democrats in a blue state. As Mr. Trump sought to end congestion pricing for vehicles in New York City, the president declared on social media “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!”
The official White House account on X, the social media website, amplified the message with an illustration of Mr. Trump wearing a crown. A federal judge later blocked Mr. Trump from attempting to end congestion pricing while the courts weighed in — demonstrating one of the constitutional checks to presidential power.
Mr. Trump’s effort to distance himself from his own suggestions of royal prerogative come as he has plowed forward with a maximalist view of presidential power in his second term, and has at times hosted official White House events that featured royal flourishes and monarchical claims to religious legitimacy.
He has issued sweeping pardons to rioters convicted of violent crimes that occurred during the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in addition to many other pardons of political allies who had been convicted of felonies.
He has also issued more than 150 executive orders, some of which attempted actions that courts ultimately found beyond his power. He has purged the government of officials perceived as his political enemies — and bragged about it to his supporters. He has run roughshod over federal agencies in ways that judges have said exceed his authority and frozen funds that Congress had already appropriated. While taking those actions, Mr. Trump has declared dubious national emergencies to invoke powers rarely sought by his predecessors.
And Mr. Trump has attacked and sought to undermine the counterweights to his own authority in government, actions that critics have particularly focused on when accusing Mr. Trump of pursuing an autocratic or monarchical style of power.
He has relentlessly attacked judges who have ruled against him, sidelined Congress’s role in making decisions about taxes and spending, steamrolled internal limits on the executive branch and used the levers of government to try to force outside centers of power like law firms and universities to submit to his will.
And the military parade scheduled for Saturday is the latest example of Mr. Trump’s desire to flex military might in openly political displays and surround himself in the pageantry of the armed forces. On Tuesday, Mr. Trump said that any protesters who assembled during the parade would be met with “very big force,” making no distinction between violent confrontations and constitutionally protected peaceful demonstrations.
The organizers of the “No Kings” marches have said that they intentionally had not scheduled demonstrations in Washington, D.C., on Saturday to order to avoid the military parade, instead encouraging demonstrators in the area to join their flagship march in Philadelphia.
Chris Cameron is a Times reporter covering Washington, focusing on breaking news and the Trump administration.
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