(AFP) – Huge crowds of protesters rallied across the United States on Saturday against President Donald Trump, venting their fury over what they see as his authoritarian style of governing, his hardline immigration policies, and the war with Iran. Organizers said “at least 8 million people gathered today at more than 3,300 events across all 50 states,” from big cities and small towns. US authorities provided no national crowd estimate.
It was the third time in less than a year that Americans have taken to the streets as part of a grassroots movement called “No Kings,” the most vocal and visual conduit for opposition to Trump since he began his second term in January 2025. In New York, America’s most populous city, tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied, including Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro, a frequent Trump critic, who called the president “an existential threat to our freedoms and security.” Protests unfolded from Atlanta to San Diego, with Alaskans joining the mix later in the day.
“No country can govern without the consent of the people,” 36-year-old military veteran Marc McCaughey told AFP in Atlanta, where thousands turned out. “We’re out here because we feel that the Constitution is under threat in a multitude of different ways. Things aren’t normal. They aren’t okay.” In the Michigan town of West Bloomfield, near Detroit, people braved below-freezing temperatures to protest. And in the US capital Washington, thousands of marchers—some carrying banners that blared “Trump Must Go Now!” and “Fight Fascism”—flocked to the National Mall.
“He keeps lying and lying and lying and lying, and no one says anything. So it’s a terrible situation we’re in,” 67-year-old retiree Robert Pavosevich told AFP. Trump himself was in Florida for the weekend. The anti-Trump mood has spilled beyond US borders, with rallies Saturday in European cities including Amsterdam, Madrid, and Rome, where 20,000 people marched under a heavy police presence.
– ‘Dragged us deeper into war’ –
The first “No Kings” nationwide protest day came last June on Trump’s 79th birthday and coincided with a military parade he organized in Washington. Several million people turned out, from New York to San Francisco. The second such protest, in October, drew an estimated seven million protesters, according to organizers, who said Saturday’s events saw one million more participants and 600 additional demonstrations.
Just as Trump is worshipped by many in his “Make America Great Again” movement, he is disliked with equal passion on the other side of America’s wide political chasm. Trump’s approval rating has sunk below 40 percent and midterm elections loom in November, with his Republican Party at risk of losing control of both chambers of Congress. Foes bemoan his penchant for ruling by executive decree, his use of the Justice Department to prosecute opponents, his apparent obsession with fossil fuels and climate change denial—and his taste for flexing US military power after campaigning as a man of peace.
“Since the last time we marched, this administration has dragged us deeper into war,” said Naveed Shah of Common Defense, a veterans’ association connected to the “No Kings” movement. “At home, we’ve watched citizens killed in the streets by militarized forces. We’ve seen families torn apart and immigrant communities targeted. All of it done in the name of one man trying to rule like a king.”
– Springsteen in Minnesota –
While organizers said rallies were staged across the country, from major cities to suburbs and rural areas—and even in the Alaskan town of Kotzebue, above the Arctic circle—a key focus point was the northern state of Minnesota. This winter, the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul became ground zero for the national debate over Trump’s violent immigration crackdown.
Leftist US politician Bernie Sanders addressed the Minnesota rally, telling the crowd: “We will never accept a president who is a pathological liar, a kleptocrat and a narcissist who is undermining the Constitution of the United States and the rule of law every day.” Legendary rocker Bruce Springsteen, a fierce critic of the president, performed his song “Streets of Minneapolis” in St. Paul, the capital of the state, where tens of thousands gathered.
Springsteen wrote and recorded the protest ballad in just 24 hours in memory of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two US citizens shot dead by federal agents during January protests against Trump’s immigration crackdown. “Their bravery, their sacrifice and their names will not be forgotten,” Springsteen said before breaking into song.
– Kerem Yucel, with Michael Mathes in Washington and John Falchetto in Atlanta, Georgia.
© 2024 AFP
