WASHINGTON — Protesting the direction of the country under President Donald Trump, people gathered Saturday in communities across the U.S. for “No Kings” demonstrations that the president's Republican Party disparaged as “Hate America” rallies.
Signs bore slogans including “Nothing is more patriotic than protesting” and “Resist Fascism.” In many places, the events looked like a street party. There were marching bands, a huge banner with the U.S. Constitution’s “We The People” preamble that people could sign and demonstrators wearing inflatable costumes — particularly frogs, which emerged as a sign of resistance in Portland, Oregon.
It was the third mass mobilization since Trump's return to the White House and came against the backdrop of a government shutdown that is testing the core balance of power as protest organizers warn of a slide toward authoritarianism.
Democrats refuse to vote on a bill that would reopen the government as they demand funding for health care. Republicans say they are willing to discuss the issue only after the government reopens.
Trump himself planned to spend the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
“They say they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” he said in a Fox News interview that aired early Friday, before he departed for a $1 million-per-plate MAGA Inc. fundraiser at his club.
Later Friday a Trump campaign social media account mocked the protests by posting a computer-generated video of the president clothed like a monarch, wearing a crown and waving from a balcony.
Nationwide demonstrations
More than 2,600 rallies were planned on the day, organizers said. People packed into New York City's Times Square, Boston Common and Chicago's Grant Park; outside state capitols in Tennessee and Indiana and a courthouse in Billings, Montana; and at hundreds of smaller public spaces. Americans even held rallies in major European cities.
Many protesters were angered by attacks on their motives. In Washington, Brian Reymann said being called a terrorist all week by Republicans was “pathetic.”
“This is America. I disagree with their politics, but I don’t believe that they don’t love this country,” he said, carrying a large U.S. flag. “I believe they are misguided. I think they are power-hungry.”
In Washington, Iraq War Marine veteran Shawn Howard said he never participated in a protest before but was motivated to show up because of what he sees as the Trump administration's “disregard for the law.” He said immigration detentions without due process and deployments of troops in U.S. cities are “un-American” and alarming signs of eroding democracy.
“I fought for freedom and against this kind of extremism abroad,” he said, adding he 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.”
In San Francisco hundreds of people spelled out “No King!” and other phrases with their bodies on Ocean Beach. Hayley Wingard, who was dressed as the Statue of Liberty, said she too had never been to a protest before. Only recently she began to view Trump as a “dictator,” citing how he deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland.
More than 1,500 people gathered in Birmingham, Alabama, evoking and openly citing the city’s history of protests and the critical role it played in the Civil Rights Movement two generations ago.
“It just feels like we’re living in an America that I don’t recognize,” said Jessica Yother, a mother of four. She and other protesters said they felt camaraderie by gathering in a state where Trump won nearly 65% of the vote last November.
Salt Lake City demonstrators gathered outside the Utah State Capitol to share messages of hope and healing after a protester was shot and killed during the city's first “No Kings” march in June.
Organizers hope to build opposition movement
“Big rallies like this give confidence to people who have been sitting on the sidelines but are ready to speak up,” Democratic U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy said in an interview.
While protests earlier this year drew crowds — the national march against Trump and Elon Musk's government cuts this spring had 1,300 registered locations, while the first "No Kings" day that countered Trump's military parade in June registered 2,100 — organizers say this one is uniting the opposition.
Top Democrats such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders were joining what organizers view as an antidote to Trump's actions, from the administration's clampdown on free speech to its military-style immigration raids.
“We’re here because we love America,” Sanders told a crowd from a stage in Washington. He said the American experiment is “in danger” under Trump but insisted, “We the people will rule.”
Republican critics denounce the demonstrations
Republicans sought to portray protesters as far outside the mainstream and a prime reason for the government shutdown, now in its 18th day. GOP leaders called them “communists” and “Marxists.”
“I encourage you to watch — we call it the Hate America rally — that will happen Saturday,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana.
“Let’s see who shows up for that," he said, listing groups including “antifa types,” people who “hate capitalism” and “Marxists in full display.”
Many demonstrators said they met such hyperbole with humor, noting Trump often leans heavily on theatrics such as claiming that cities to which he sends troops are war zones.
“So much of what we’ve seen from this administration has been so unserious and silly that we have to respond with the same energy,” said Glen Kalbaugh, a Washington protester who wore a wizard hat and held a sign with a frog on it.
New York police reported no arrests during the city's protests.
