Article one, section nine, clause eight of the U.S. Constitution says: “No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States.” In other words: The U.S. doesn’t want kings.
Despite this, on Feb. 19, the official White House Instagram posted a painted portrait of President Donald Trump wearing a crown. The corner of the portrait had the words: “Long Live The King.” The caption read, “‘CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!’ –President Donald J. Trump.”
Perhaps we need a quick history lesson. Our founders fought in the eight-year Revolutionary War to gain independence from King George III of Great Britain. We fought in this long, bloody war because we wanted democracy. We wanted representation. We wanted a duly elected, responsive leader.
Just a few days prior to that post, the account made another post along the same lines: Trump’s official presidential portrait captioned with a post from his X account reading, “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.”
Not quite.
In Trump v. U.S., 23-939 (2024), the Supreme Court found that the president has full immunity from criminal prosecution if actions were an official act explicitly named in the Constitution. For other official but not explicitly named acts, the president gets presumptive immunity. If the acts are unofficial — like, for example, falsifying business records to conceal hush money to a porn star — the president is afforded no immunity. Just because Trump is president does not mean he is fully exempt from the law. He is president, not king. He cannot do whatever he wants under the guise of saving the country.
On March 4, Trump spoke to a joint session of Congress. Within minutes, congresspeople began to shout and protest the speech. One of the most notable protestors was Representative Maxwell Frost, D-Fla. Frost walked out of the chamber in the midst of Trump’s speech, revealing a T-shirt that said “No Kings Live Here” under his jacket. In a statement on his official website, Frost said, “Donald Trump is many things — a liar, a grifter, a wanna-be-dictator — but no matter how hard he tries and how many Republicans in Congress bend the knee and kiss the ring: he will never be king.”
The White House’s controversial posts don’t end there. On Feb. 14, they posted a Valentine’s Day card reading “Roses are red, violets are blue, come here illegally and we’ll deport you,” with Trump’s and Executive Associate Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations (or, as Trump delegated him, “border czar”) Tom Homan’s faces over a pink, heart-covered background. The caption simply read, “Happy Valentine’s Day.”
Just a few days later on Feb. 18, the White House Instagram posted a video titled “ASMR: Illegal Alien Deportation Flight.” The video shows immigration officials patting people down, laying out handcuffs and long chains on the ground, and people being handcuffed. It showed the supposedly “satisfying” sound of the chains around a man’s ankles hitting the metal steps as he walked onto a plane.
This post was absolutely disgusting. It makes a mockery out of people in what is most likely one of the worst moments of their lives. The post shows no empathy and no respect for these people. Yes, people — in case the administration forgot. Immigrants, whether in the U.S. illegally or not, are people. The fact that the White House seems to need reminding of this is deplorable.
The 14th Amendment of the Constitution says, in part, “…nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person in its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Undocumented immigrants are protected under this clause. The amendment specifically says “any person.” Had the writers of the amendment wanted it to only apply to citizens, they would have said so. Therefore, undocumented immigrants have just as much right to life, liberty, property, and, most importantly, respect and dignity as full citizens do. The administration should recognize this and treat undocumented immigrants accordingly.
Elected officials are the country’s tone-setters. They are who many Americans will look to in deciding how to feel about certain things and how to treat others. The White House is using its huge platform to tell Americans that they should think of Trump as a king and should treat illegal immigrants as sources of sick humor. This is not what our leaders should be promoting to the masses. The White House Instagram’s attempt at being funny has gone too far. We don’t need elected officials to make us laugh — we need them to do their jobs. Creating ASMR videos about deportations and portraits of themselves as kings is not part of the job description. Our founders wanted better than this, and we as Americans — as human beings — should as well.