Janno Lieber, the head of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, had won.
Congestion pricing, the tolling program designed to cut down traffic in Manhattan and raise billions of dollars for the region’s aging transit infrastructure, had survived an onslaught.
Attempts by lawmakers to narrow its scope. A wave of lawsuits from truckers, residents and powerful neighbors in New Jersey. A last-minute pause in June by Gov. Kathy Hochul, who delayed the plan until after the presidential election.
But President Trump attempted to snatch away that victory on Wednesday, declaring on social media that he had unilaterally killed the program. “LONG LIVE THE KING,” he added.
In a letter, the U.S. Department of Transportation said that it would revoke the federal agreement that had authorized the toll, just months after it was approved by the Biden administration. The M.T.A. challenged the letter in federal court almost immediately and vowed to keep the tolls on in the meantime.
For Mr. Lieber, congestion pricing’s unflagging defender, the road ahead, like the way before, remains long and difficult.
After a grueling campaign to start the toll, which only went into effect on Jan. 5, Mr. Lieber must now help fend off the most serious threat to the program yet: the native New Yorker in the Oval Office.