Thousands of protesters marched and rallied in cities across the US on Saturday taking part in the “No Kings” demonstrations, decrying what participants see as the government’s swift drift into authoritarianism under President Donald Trump.
People carried signs with slogans reading “Nothing is more patriotic than protesting” or “Resist Fascism” as they packed into New York City’s Times Square and rallied by the thousands in parks in Boston, Atlanta, Chicago and other metropolitans.
Demonstrators marched through Washington and downtown Los Angeles and picketed outside capitols in several Republican-led states, a courthouse in Billings, Montana, and at hundreds of smaller public spaces.
Many protesters even staged demonstrations outside buildings branded with the Trump name, like in New York and Chicago, where the US president – under his Trump organisations – owns and operates several pieces of prime downtown real estate.
Trump’s Republican Party disparaged the demonstrations as “Hate America” rallies, but in many places the events looked more like a street party.
There were marching bands, huge banners with the US Constitution’s “We The People” preamble that people could sign, and demonstrators wearing inflatable costumes, particularly frogs, which have emerged as a sign of resistance in Portland, Oregon.
It was the third mass mobilisation since Trump’s return to the White House and came against the backdrop of a government shutdown that not only has closed federal programmes and services but is testing the core balance of power, as an aggressive executive wing confronts Congress and the courts in ways that protest organisers warn are a slide toward authoritarianism.
“I fought for freedom and against this kind of extremism abroad,” said Shawn Howard, a former Iraq War Marine, who also worked at the CIA for 20 years on counter-extremism operations.
“And now I see a moment in America where we have extremists everywhere who are, in my opinion, pushing us to some kind of civil conflict,” he added.
Trump, meanwhile, was spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
“They say they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” the president said in an interview on Fox News that aired early on Friday, before he departed for a $1 million-per-head (€857,600) MAGA (Make America Great Again) fundraiser at his club.
Protesters – mainly Democrats – say they will continue to take to the streets to ensure their country’s democracy doesn’t “slip through the cracks,” and protect the Constitution, which they accuse the Trump administration of subverting.
They slammed Trump for trying to revoke US birthright citizenship, a right protected by the 14th amendment, which has yet to be decided on by the Supreme Court.
They also criticised his administration’s targeting of illegal immigrants, the mass immigration raids in majority-Democrat cities like Los Angeles and Chicago, which have divided and broken up families, detained and deported many people, sometimes without trial or due process.
Protesters also demanded an end to Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops across US cities to conduct civilian policing operations, calling them unnecessary and unconstitutional, and urged a restoration of local power to state-level officials.
American mobilise abroad
Several protests also took place across major European cities. The rallies were largely organised and attended by US citizens living abroad, who say they’re increasingly concerned with the Trump administration undermining their country’s global standing.
Hundreds of people gathered in Madrid, holding placards and signs reading “no man is above the law” and “No tyrants, defend democracy!”
“The Trump Government is not respecting the institutions that every former president always has. The Republican Party is allowing that to happen. The Supreme Court seems to be ruling in his favour on everything, and we’re very concerned about all that,” said William Kotes, a 66-year-old MBA admissions consultant.
“There’s another agenda going on, and I think something needs to be done to stay vigilant, to stay active, and to speak out against what’s happening,” said Miss Dawn, an international civil servant.
Many also protested the US president’s mixed-messaging in his support for Ukraine, following a Friday visit by the Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to the White House.
Zelenskyy, who visited Washington to make his country’s case and convince Trump to sell long-range Tomahawk missiles to him, left without the weapons he desired, which many suspect was due to Russia’s Vladimir Putin dissuading Trump from supplying them.
Some protesters also criticised his unwavering support for Israel and accused the incumbent administration of complicity in what they described as a genocide in Gaza, preceding a ceasefire deal, brokered by Trump, which came into effect last week.