If Trump is a king, he's terrible at it | Opinion

As protesters gather for "No Kings" gatherings, rallies and even a First Amendment concert in New York City on President Donald Trump's 80th birthday, I can't help but snicker. If Trump is acting like a king, he's doing a lousy job of it.

The No Kings Coalition isn't laughing. "While politicians from the White House to state houses all across this country act like unaccountable kings, we'll be doing the real work of bringing communities together in living rooms, community centers, and businesses across America," the group told Fast Company.

Unaccountable kings? That phrase sounds familiar. Thomas Jefferson spent nearly half the Declaration of Independence accusing the British monarchy of a "long train of abuses" ‒ 27 specific grievances against King George III: taxing colonists without representation, cutting off colonial trade, forcing colonists to house British soldiers, shielding troops from punishment for murdering colonists. The indictment was so damning it justified revolution.

Jefferson was such a radical rebel that, 250 years before today's No Kings movement, he was already making its case. The thread running through all 27 grievances – and his rallying cry that "all men are created equal" – was a revolutionary idea: No Kings.

To suggest Trump is a king – when he is neither a dictator nor monarch and has been elected twice – is ironic, hypocritical and an affront to America's founding.

Donald Trump is no tyrant

The No Kings movement has its own list of abuses. Its website reads: "His administration is sending masked agents into our streets, terrorizing our communities. They are targeting immigrant families, profiling, arresting, and detaining people without warrants. Threatening to overtake elections. ... Driving up the cost of living while handing out massive giveaways to billionaire allies, as families struggle. Spending billions of our tax dollars on missile strikes abroad."

Contrary to the smears in my inbox, I'm not such a rabid MAGA supporter that I can't see Trump's flaws. He is thin-skinned and dodges accountability. He threatens and postures ‒ against media, allies and foes alike. He acts too quickly and sometimes crosses the line.

But enforcing the law aggressively is not tyranny. Trump sent troops to Washington, DC, to restore order. Democrats called it an overreach, but it seemed to help. He threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota to quell riots against Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, then didn't follow through. Masked agents could stand to be more civil, but a nation that refuses to enforce its immigration laws quickly becomes a lawless one.

He's not a humble wallflower. He's a man of action who sometimes makes mistakes. But that's not the same as being a tyrannical dictator.

Trump's own reaction to 'No Kings' proves he isn't one

In March, an estimated 8 million Americans turned out for No Kings protests in about 3,300 cities and towns across all 50 states. More are planned for Trump's birthday on June 14.

Yet none of these participants seem to realize that a real king wouldn't allow such protests at all. That's one of many ironies of this movement.

"The president thinks his rule is absolute," reads the No Kings website. "But in America, we don't have kings."

He doesn't. But not because protesters said so ‒ because the Constitution says so. Since his second term began, the Supreme Court has rejected Trump's bid to deploy the National Guard in Illinois and his attempt to freeze nearly $2 billion in foreign aid. Checks and balances work.

Trump is subject to public opinion, too. He paused a sweeping set of "reciprocal" tariffs under pressure and scaled back an executive order asking park visitors to flag "negative" historical exhibits after the backlash.

If Trump is a king, he's the worst one ever – or the best, depending on your perspective. I don't see anything in his record remotely like the "long train of abuses" the British Crown imposed on the colonies. As Jefferson wrote, when a government becomes truly tyrannical, "it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government."

If Trump is truly the tyrant No Kings activists claim, why symbolic demonstrations? A republic offers real remedies ‒ impeachment, electoral defeat, lawful political change.

By invoking the language of America's founding, the No Kings movement cheapens what that struggle actually meant. America was born from years of real tyranny, paid for in blood by people who had none of these freedoms.

If Trump were really a king, he wouldn't laugh at or smear a No Kings protest on social media. And if Jefferson and his fellow patriots had launched a rally instead of a revolution, No Kings protesters wouldn't have a First Amendment concert or watch party to attend, just another tax on their tea.

Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with USA TODAY. She lives in Texas with her four kids. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track, and get it delivered to your inbox.