As President Donald Trump arrived at his military parade in Washington, DC, this June to a 21-gun salute and members of the crowd singing “Happy Birthday,” about 5 million people across the country took to the streets to protest his administration. Now, amid an ongoing government shutdown and Trump’s push to deploy National Guard troops to American cities, millions are gearing up for round two.
More than 2,500 demonstrations – about 450 more than were planned in June – across all 50 states are slated for Saturday in the second round of “No Kings” protests, which aim to broadly reject what organizers describe as Trump’s “authoritarian” agenda.
Some Republican leaders have labeled the protests as anti-American. House Speaker Mike Johnson claimed, without evidence, that Saturday’s planned rallies have contributed to the ongoing government shutdown.
When the first round of “No Kings” protests took place, Trump had just barreled through the first five months of his second term with hundreds of executive orders and other moves targeting birthright citizenship, protections for transgender people, student protesters, federal diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and more.
Tension over immigration raids reached a fever pitch with protests in Los Angeles, where Trump federalized the California National Guard against the wishes of Gov. Gavin Newsom – a move that experts warned was an unprecedented and dangerous escalation of presidential power.
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