Sometimes people claim that the first part of 2 Nephi 10:11, "And this land shall be a land of liberty unto the Gentiles, and there shall be no kings upon the land," means that there will be "no kings" in the promised land. However, in doing so they fail to include the rest of verse 11 and verse 12, which says, "who shall raise up unto the Gentiles. And I will fortify this land against all other nations." When taken together, I interpret these verses to mean that the influence of the Gentile nation on the promised land would not be overcome by any kings or any other nation. [Alan C. Miner, Personal Notes]
According to Hugh Nibley kings claimed the Americas right from the beginning. There were claims for the king of Spain, claims for the king of England, claims for the king of France. It was always the king that claimed it here. It was claimed for the Russians on the West Coast, and later claimed for the Japanese emperor. Everybody claimed it, always in the name of kings. . . . But the Lord said, no, that would not happen. It's the land of promise, that inasmuch as they behaved themselves, "they shall prosper . . . that they may possess this land unto themselves" (see 2 Nephi 1:9). [Hugh W. Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 1, p. 244]