Thousands gathered across the United States on Saturday at the start of nationwide mass protests against what organizers view as rising authoritarianism under President Donald Trump.
More than 2,600 “No Kings” rallies are due to be held in cities and towns in all 50 states in what is thought to be the largest mobilization against the Trump Administration yet.
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Early Saturday, crowds began to form at protests starting in East Coast cities, including Washington, D.C., Miami, Florida, and Lexington, Massachusetts. Protests have also begun in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The protests come in response to an unprecedented use of presidential power by Trump in his second term. Since January, Trump has deployed National Guard troops to Democratic-run cities to quell protests, launched a crackdown on left-wing and liberal groups, and implemented a sweeping mass deportation program that has seen masked federal agents detaining people on the street without due process.
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The first ‘No Kings’ day of protest in June, attended by an estimated five million people, was largely peaceful, although isolated clashes broke out between police and demonstrators in several cities.
Organizers had raised fears ahead of the protest that Trump and his allies would use the protests as an excuse to launch further crackdowns on dissent.
In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott announced National Guard deployments in Austin, citing what he called possible threats from “antifa-linked” demonstrators. Democrats there accused him of using the Guard to intimidate protesters.
The American Civil Liberties Union, Indivisible, MoveOn and the American Federation of Teachers say they are taking extra precautions, focusing on de-escalation and community safety, and distributing guidance on how to respond peacefully if met with aggression by law enforcement or counterprotesters.
“They might try to paint this weekend’s events as something dangerous,” said Diedre Schlifeling, the ACLU’s chief political and advocacy officer. “But the reality is there is nothing unlawful or unsafe about organizing and attending peaceful protests. It’s the most patriotic and American thing you can do.”
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The protests have earned the backing of Democrats from across the ideological spectrum. Former presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton have both given their support, along with progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and independent Senator Bernie Sanders.
“In our country, the power is with the people, and tomorrow I encourage everyone to get out there in peaceful protest of what is happening in our country and express our voice around the country we believe in,” Harris, who lost to Trump in the 2024 presidential election, said in a video posted to social media.
Democratic Den. Adam Schiff, who has been a target of Trump’s perceived retributive campaign against political enemies since he entered office, also waded in with a social media video that praised those attending protests for standing up not “just for yourself, but for your neighbors, and for an idea.”
Trump has said very little about the protests, but made a passing remark on Friday before departing for his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
“They say they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” Trump told Fox News.
The president arrived at his golf club in West Palm Beach on Saturday morning, a few hours ahead of the protests.
Top members of Trump’s Republican Party have condemned the protests. House Speaker Mike Johnson called the demonstrations against the Trump Administration a “Hate America rally” and claimed it would draw the “pro-Hamas wing” of the Democratic Party and “the antifa people.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described expected participants as “the farthest left, the hardest core, the most unhinged in the Democratic Party.” Republican Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas suggested the National Guard might need to show up.
In a press conference on Thursday, organizers accused Republicans of attempting to intimidate people from attending. “Now they are trying to smear millions of Americans who are coming out to protest so that they can justify and crack down on peaceful dissent,” said Leah Greenberg, co-founder of Indivisible, one of the groups that organized the event. “It is the classic authoritarian playbook—threaten, smear and lie—but we will not be intimidated.”
Demonstrators have also gathered in cities throughout Europe for their own versions of No Kings Protests, including in Paris, Berlin, Sweden, and Madrid. Dutch News describes the Amsterdam protest, including posters that decry the Trump Administration’s immigration crackdown: “I like my Democracy neat. Hold the ICE,” one poster they photograph read.
This is a developing story.
— Additional reporting by Nik Popli