WHEREAS, On February 19th, 2025, President Donald J. Trump likened himself to a king. Official White House social media accounts also posted an illustration of President Trump wearing a crown; and
WHEREAS The President of the United States’ words matter and this rhetoric is very inappropriate at best and outright dangerous at worst. But President Trump’s actions prove that he truly views himself more like a monarch than a president; and
WHEREAS, During the first month of his second term, President Trump has shown utter disregard for the rule of law, separation of powers, and constitution; and
WHEREAS, During the first month of his second term, President Trump tried to unilaterally overturn the constitutional right to birthright citizenship and shutter federal agencies and programs enshrined into law by Congress. He also declared himself above the law; and
WHEREAS, It is here in the City of Philadelphia where, almost 250 years ago, Americans freed our nation from a king’s tyranny and fought for the modern world’s first government for the people, by the people; and
WHEREAS Our Founding Fathers created three equally powerful branches to prevent any single branch from becoming too powerful, establishing a system of checks and balances where each branch can limit the power of the others, thus safeguarding individual liberties and preventing tyranny; and
WHEREAS President Trump’s monarchial actions and speech put the United States of America closer to tyranny than we have been since 1776; and
WHEREAS, As the place where it was ratified, it is important for Philadelphia to call out this assault on our constitution and reaffirm how treacherous it is for the President of the United States to refer to himself as a king; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, THAT THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, Hereby condemns President Donald J. Trump for moving our nation closer to a constitutional crisis by likening himself to, and acting like, a king.
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