Millions of people have taken to the streets across the US – and to a lesser extent worldwide – on Saturday to protest against US President Donald Trump on a range of different issues, in what they see as his authoritatian style of governance, hardline immigration policies, climate change denial and the war with Iran.
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Organisers said the protests could add up to one of the largest demonstrations in US history, with more than 3,100 events held in major cities, suburbs and rural areas. They expect the total number of participants to top nine million.
It is the third time in less than a year that people protest in the US as part of a grassroots movement called “No Kings”.
The first such nationwide protest day took place last June on Trump’s 79th birthday and coincided with a military parade he organised in Washington. Several million people turned out, from New York to San Francisco. The second, in October last year, drew an estimated seven million protesters, according to organisers.
In New York City, tens of thousands of people rallied on Saturday, including Oscar-winning actor Roberto De Niro who called the US President “an existential threat to our freedoms and security”.
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,” one protester told news agency AFP.
A deeply divided country
The event highlighted the deep political divide that currently exists in the US. While Trump is largely worshipped within his “Make America Great Again” movement, he is equally disliked by his foes, who decry his penchant for ruling by executive decree, use of the justice system to prosecute opponents, as well as his repeated climate change denial and apparent obsession wih fossil fuels.
Many of his opponents are also unhappy about his scrapping of racial and gender diversity programmes and his flexing of US military power after campaigning as a man of peace who would avoid wars.
The White House dimissed the rallies, however, with a spokesperson describing them as being the product of “leftist funding networks” that lack true public support.
“The only people who care about these Trump Derangement Syndrome Therapy Sessions are the reporters who are paid to cover them,” spokesperson Abigail Jackson added in a statement.
Those comments were echoed by the National Republican Congressional Committee, with a spokesperson saying “these Hate America Rallies are where the far-left’s most violent, deranged fantasies get a microphone.”
Nevertheless, organisers say two thirds of those planning to rally on Saturday do not live in major cities, often Democratic strongholds in the US – a data point that has risen sharply since the last protest.
Europeans protest from afar
Rallies also took place in Europe on Saturday, with around 20,000 people marching under a heavy police presence in cities including Amsterdam, Madrid and Rome.
In Paris, several hundred people – mostly Americans living in France – along with French labour unions and human rights organisations, gathered at the Bastille.
“I protest all of Trump’s illegal, immoral, reckless and feckless endless wars,” said the Paris No Kings organiser, Ada Shen.
In Rome, thousands protested against the US and Israel’s strikes on Iran, but also took the opportunity to also criticise Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who recently saw a referendum – which would have changed how Italy’s judiciary system works – fail.
In London, people also protested the war in Iran. Many also held banners reading “stop the far right” and “stand up to racism.”
The “No Kings” movement has emerged as the most visible and outspoken opposition to Trump since he began his second term in January 2025.
As the November midterm elections loom and the president’s approval rating sinks below 40%, Republicans are in danger of losing control of both chambers of Congress.
