Thousands gather for anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ protests across US

No Kings demonstrations against President Donald Trump’s immigration, education, and security are being staged in several cities across the country, according to organizers who anticipate more than 2,600 events.

The rally on Saturday is the third large-scale mobilization since Trump’s return to the White House, coming in the wake of a government shutdown that has closed all of the government’s programs and services and tested the fundamental balance of power as an aggressive executive confronts Congress and the courts in ways that the organizers claim will lead to a downward spiral in US authoritarianism.

A few hundred protesters gathered outside the US embassy in London before the rallies moved on, and hundreds more demonstrated in Madrid and Barcelona.

Numerous protesters were crossing overpasses across roads heading into Washington, DC by Saturday morning in Northern Virginia.

Many protesters are particularly offended by criticism of their reasons for taking to the streets. Nothing is more patriotic than protesting, according to a sign up in Bethesda, Maryland.

Trump is staying at his Florida home while he’s away from Washington.

They claim to refer to me as a king, but I don’t. Trump remarked in a Fox News interview on Friday that he was not a king.

More than 2,600 rallies organized by coalition partners are scheduled for Saturday in cities of all sizes and sizes.

A growing opposition movement

Organizers claim that this year’s protests are forming a more unified opposition movement after the earlier ones against Elon Musk’s cuts in the spring and then against Trump’s military parade in June.

Organizers claim that the administration’s crackdown on free speech and its military-style immigration raids are effective strategies for Trump’s actions. Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and Independent Senator Bernie Sanders are among the Democrats.

One of the key organizers, Ezra Levin, cofounder of Indivisible, said, “There is no greater threat to an authoritarian regime than patriotic people-power.”

In Times Square in New York City, a large crowd of people gathered before noon to chant “Trump must go now.”

Zehns of thousands of people who will serve as marshals at the various marches were instructed in de-escalation, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Republicans have argued that the protests on Saturday were staged far outside of US politics, which is a major factor in the government shutdown’s 18th day.

GOP officials decried the rallygoers as “Marxists” and “Communists” from the White House to Capitol Hill.

According to them, Schumer and other Democratic leaders are close to the far-left and willing to obstruct the government to appease those liberal forces.

House Speaker Mike Johnson urged members of the public to attend the Saturday-only Hate America rally.

Johnson said, “Let’s see who shows up for that,” listing organizations such as “antifa types,” “hate capitalism,” and “Marxists in full display.”

Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders declared, “It’s a love America rally,” in a Facebook post.

According to registrations and participation in the June events, Dana Fisher, a professor at American University in Washington, DC, and the author of several books on US activism, predicted that Saturday would see the largest protest turnout in modern US history.

The purpose of “this day of action” is to foster a sense of collective identity among all those who feel threatened or threatened by the Trump administration, according to Fisher. Trump’s policies won’t change because of it. However, it might encourage all-party elected officials who oppose Trump.