Diyar Guldogan
18 October 2025•Update: 19 October 2025
WASHINGTON
Crowds are swelling in “No Kings” rallies across the country on Saturday, voicing opposition to President Donald Trump and his policies.
More than 2,000 demonstrations have been organized across the country, including in major cities from Los Angeles to Chicago.
The rallies come amid an ongoing government shutdown and the deployment of federal troops in different parts of the country.
Organizers of the "No Kings" protests include the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other rights groups that advocate for issues such as health care.
Lawmakers, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, also joined activists to speak at the "No Kings" protest in Washington, DC.
"Millions of Americans are coming out today not because they hate America. We're here because we love America," Sanders told the crowd at the rally in the capital.
Sanders warned against the rise of authoritarianism and directly rejected Trump's leadership style.
"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," he said.
Sen. Chris Murphy, for his part, slammed Trump as an "authoritarian" leader.
“We are not on the verge of an authoritarian takeover. We are in the middle of an authoritarian takeover, but Trump has not won,” Murphy said.
Calling Trump “the most corrupt president in the history of the United States of America," Murphy said the democracy is "in peril, but it can be saved."
"President Trump thinks that he can bully us into silence. He thinks that he can intimidate us into sitting this fight out,” Murphy said.
- 'Peacefully, lawfully protesting the Trump administration's abuses of power'
Deirdre Schifeling, ACLU's chief political and advocacy officer, said the best way to protect freedom is to "act free."
"I'm so thrilled to be here with you, my community, today doing the most patriotic and American thing that we can do peacefully and lawfully: protesting the Trump administration's abuses of power and exercising our First Amendment rights," she told the crowd.
Protests are also taking place in other countries, including in many major European cities.
House Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday criticized the "No Kings" rallies, describing the event as a politically motivated gathering of far-left activists that he claimed promotes anti-American sentiment.
"They're going to descend on our Capitol for their much-anticipated, so-called 'No Kings' rally. We refer to it by its more accurate description, 'The Hate America Rally.' I'm not sure how anybody can refute that," he said.
Recently, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Americans to "peacefully" exercise their constitutional right to protest at the rallies and to rally opposition to what he called the Trump administration’s threats to democratic norms.
Schumer also marched with labor unions in New York City. "We have no dictators in America. And we won’t allow Trump to keep eroding our democracy," he said.
Organizers stressed that the demonstrations will be peaceful, pushing back against claims from Republican leaders and the Trump administration that the protests may pose safety concerns.
