“CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!”

— President Donald J. Trump.

This was posted by Trump on his Truth Social Wednesday evening. The official White House Twitter account repeated the message, but added a picture of Trump in a crown standing in front of the New York skyline.

Trump made the post as he directed his administration to halt recently-implemented congestion tolls in New York City — which, to be fair, many of us agree with.

While congestion tolling is an interesting idea, we take issue with the unequal nature of the toll when spread across the people who must drive through the region, as well as some other problems.

But Trump, ever the provocateur, couldn’t simply leave off a reasonable policy choice without pushing the envelope somehow — in this case, our shared cultural history and identity.

We don’t do kings here. It’s kind of our whole thing, we fought a war about it once — and it’s a heritage that we, as a nation, as a state, as a county, as a newspaper and as individuals are fiercely proud of.

Was he joking? Maybe.

But it’s not something the President of the United States, alleged Leader of the Free World, should be joking about.

There must be limits, even for — especially for — the president.

Many of Trump’s initiatives are things that we could agree with. Some, like killing congestion pricing, we outright do, while others, like ditching FEMA, we want to see evidence on, but could be talked into.

Take us to Mars.

Reduce federal waste and corruption.

Shrink the size of the federal government and get it out of the business of regulating peoples’ personal lives.

Trump — and those in his administration — have some good ideas.

Instead, though, he makes it incredibly challenging to support him as a person by repeatedly spouting statements that are not merely un-American: they are anti-American.

We know there are many of you who like Trump. We get it — he’s witty and entertaining, and he’s got the strength to make dramatic changes and actually impose his will upon a recalcitrant body of politicians who are loathe to do any actual work.

On that alone, he ranks highly in terms of being a president who gets things done.

But we cannot let our fondness for those attributes override one simple fact:

Ultimately, he works for us: for the American public. Rich, poor, white, Black, urban, rural, Republican, Democrat — it doesn’t matter.

He was elected, fair and square — even achieving a victory in the popular vote, not just the electoral college.

It is now his sacred duty to represent us on the national and global stage, to make our country better for all of its citizens, both for those now living and for those who will come after us.

Maybe he’s joking.

But if he’s not, then God help us all, and we must be ready to hold him accountable.

For if we fail in that duty, our sacred duty as citizens of the United States of America, then all of the blood, sweat and tears of our mothers and fathers and all who came before — those who fought and died to make the world we live in today possible — all of it is for naught.

We don’t do kings here.