‘No Kings’ protests against Trump nationwide

Large crowds of protesters marched and rallied in cities across the U.S. on Saturday for “No Kings” demonstrations decrying what participants see as the government’s swift drift into authoritarianism under President Donald Trump.

People carrying signs with slogans such as “Nothing is more patriotic than protesting” or “Resist Fascism” packed into New York City’s Times Square and rallied by the thousands in parks in Boston, Atlanta and Chicago. Demonstrators marched through Washington and downtown Los Angeles and picketed outside capitols in several Republican-led states, a courthouse in Billings, Montana, and hundreds of smaller public spaces.

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Mr. 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, 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 have emerged as a sign of resistance in Portland, Oregon.

It was the third mass mobilisation since Mr. 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 also is testing the core balance of power, as an aggressive executive confronts Congress and the courts in ways that protest organisers warn are a slide toward authoritarianism.

In Washington, Iraq War Marine veteran Shawn Howard said he had 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.

Demonstrators in costume attend a “No Kings” protest against U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies outside City Hall in Los Angeles, California, U.S., on October 18, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
Reuters

“I fought for freedom and against this kind of extremism abroad,” said Howard, who added that 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.”

Mr. Trump, meanwhile, was spending 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,” the President said in a Fox News interview that aired early on Friday, before he departed for a $1 million-per-plate MAGA Inc fundraiser at his club.

Nationwide demonstrations

In San Francisco hundreds of people spelt 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”.

“I was actually ok with everything until I found out about the military invasion in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Portland — Portland bothered me the most because I’m from Portland, and I don’t want the military in my cities. That’s scary,” Wingard said.

Salt Lake City demonstrators gathered outside the Utah State Capitol to share messages of hope and healing after a protester was fatally shot during the city’s first “No Kings” march in June.

And more than 1,500 people gathered in Birmingham, Alabama, evoking and 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 recognise,” 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.

New York police reported no arrests during the protests.