Trump & Co. must put the brakes on idle threats and keep its vow to end congestion tax

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

Those were President Donald Trump’s words back in February after his Department of Transportation boss, Sean Duffy, revoked approval of New York’s congestion-pricing tax then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo pushed through and now-Gov. Kathy Hochul implemented in January.

The tolls had to be gone, Duffy insisted, with a strict deadline set at March 21.

Great, but there was no “or else” — and by March 21, that hard deadline was moved to April 20.

Now April 20 has gone by, the tolls are still up and Duffy has set a third deadline: May 21.

What gives?

Motorists are still paying through the nose, with the toll at a whopping $9 a day.

OK, maybe this time, Team Trump really, really, really means it: On Monday, the DOT boss did spell out (vague) consequences if New York keeps dodging its order.

If Hochul can’t adequately show cause for why the feds shouldn’t slam the state for refusing to end congestion pricing by May 21, DOT will yank potentially billions in Federal Highway Administration funding and nix approvals for future projects.

That’s a steep price to pay for a wildly unpopular toll, but will it force Hochul to break?

Or will she simply write off the new threats as just as empty as all the others?

Again, until Monday, Duffy’s response has been little more than to wag his finger and helpfully extend the deadline.

That dinged the Trump administration’s credibility.

Indeed, Hochul already sounds cocky.

On Monday, she snarked: “I received the letter from USDOT extending their congestion pricing threats once again. I repeat: congestion pricing is legal — and it’s working.”

She looks set to call Duffy’s bluff and ignore the May 21 deadline, too.

In fact, it’s far from clear Trump & Co. will ever be able to end the tolls, at least in the very near future.

New Yorkers may be stuck with them for a while.

But that’s a reason not to make promises you can’t keep and threats you don’t follow through on.

No, that doesn’t mean Trump shouldn’t keep trying to shut down these tolls.

New Yorkers hate them: They’re yet another tax on top of all the other taxes they pay, in the most tax-burdened state in America.

But the prez needs to safeguard his credibility.

Shut down the tolls, for real, Mr. President — or stop bragging that you did.