Organisers of the “No Kings” protest against the Trump administration say around seven million people took to the streets across US cities this past weekend, protesting the policies and stance of President Donald Trump.

The “No Kings” protest, organised by a network of progressive organisations pitted against the administration’s agenda encompassing immigration raids, military deployments in US cities, free speech rights and cuts to federal programmes, including healthcare.

The broad takeaway was that President Trump was acting more like a monarch than an elected leader, something the President has rejected while taking to social media to ridicule the protestors.

Authoritarianism

Massive crowds gathered in cities across the country, pitting their voices against the administration’s policies – from coast to coast, the nation’s capital, Boston, Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York, to mention a few – expressing their opposition to a President they believe is displaying a creeping authoritarianism and that their actions are a fight for democracy.

One protester had this to say: “It’s the First Amendment for a reason, right? The free press, freedom of speech, freedom to assemble, they made it first for a reason. And it’s really important that our government represent all of us, not just some of us. No one’s above the law. If there isn’t due process for everyone, there isn’t due process for anyone. And all of this rising, cracking down on cities and thinking you’re above the laws, it just got to stop. This isn’t who we are.”

“You can see what’s going on. It’s horrendous, right? I mean, we’re literally pulling people off the street. We have masked men abducting people, kidnapping people, disappearing people because of their political opinion. That’s not what we’re supposed to be about,” explains another protester.

“We’ve been out in the streets for a long time calling this out…we are totally in a fascist regime at this point and it is ramping up, I mean, not even day by day, it’s like every couple of hours it’s crossing another line.”

An aerial view of the protest in Chicago shows thousands gathered – in a city that recently became the epicentre of immigration raids and efforts to deploy the national guard against the wishes of the local leaders in the state of Illinois.

Progressive Independent Senator Bernie Sanders also joined thousands who rallied in Washington, D.C., a stone’s throw from the White House.

“We rejected the divine right of kings in the 1770s; we will not accept the divine right of oligarchs today. Today, in the year 2025, in this dangerous moment in American history, our message is exactly the same. No, President Trump, we don’t want you or any other king to rule us. Thank you very much. But we will maintain our democratic form of society. We will not move toward authoritarianism; in America, we, the people, will rule.”

Prominent British-born journalist Mehdi Hasan, who became a naturalised US citizen in 2020, pointed to a message for the President.

“We will out-organise them, we will out-vote them, we will outlast them. Because when I see you all out here today, when I see you all out here today, when I see you all out here today, in your thousands, in millions across the country, I… I have hope, I have faith that America can defeat this fascist threat, this authoritarian mania, this MAGA cult, and save our freedoms. And I also have faith and hope that one day, one day soon, the Palestinians will be free.”

Responding to the massive outcry, President Trump took to social media, posting an AI video of himself in a fighter jet – dropping faeces on “No Kings” protestors.

Trump reacted in a Fox News Interview: “They’re referring to me as a King, I’m not a King.”

Trump’s two terms in office have featured massive protests.

This latest one is also happening at a time when the federal government shutdown enters its 20th day, putting it on track to at least become the second-longest in history.

This, as Democrats dig in over expiring healthcare subsidies that could see significant increases to insurance premiums by the end of the year and using their limited leverage in the Senate to block any reopening of the government unless Republicans address healthcare costs upfront.