No Kings protests across US kick off with National Guard on standby

Huge crowds gathered to protest President Donald Trump’s policies in cities across the United States – including New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Miami and Los Angeles.

The demonstration in New York City’s iconic Times Square attracted thousands of people shortly after it began on Saturday morning.

The streets and subway entrances were crowded with people holding banners bearing slogans such as “Democracy, not monarchy” and “The constitution is not optional.”

Prior to the demonstrations, Trump’s allies accused the demonstrators of being linked to the far-left Antifa movement, and condemned what they called the “America Hate March.”

Organizers and demonstrators who turned out on Saturday said the events were peaceful.

Nonviolence is a core principle of No Kings events, the group states on its website, which urges all participants to calm down potential altercations.

In New York, sections of the crowd regularly chanted “This is what democracy looks like,” with near-constant drumming in the background along with cowbells and noisemakers.

Helicopters and drones were seen flying overhead as police stood on the sidelines.

An organizer announced over a loudspeaker that 100,000 people had attended, though it is not clear whether he meant around Times Square or across the city’s five boroughs where smaller marches and events are also being held.

A police officer standing next to him estimated that more than 20,000 were marching down Seventh Avenue.

Beth Zasloff, a freelance writer and editor, said she joined the New York protest because she feels angry and distressed about what she called “the move toward fascism and authoritarian government” that is happening in the Trump administration.

“I care a lot about New York City,” Zasloff said. “It gives me hope to be here with so many other people.”

Since returning to the White House, Trump has embraced an expansive view of presidential power, using executive orders to block funding approved by Congress and dismantle parts of the federal government, to impose sweeping tariffs on other countries, and to deploy National Guard troops in cities over the objections of state governors.

The president says his actions are necessary to rebuild a country in crisis, and has dismissed allegations that he is a dictator or fascist as hysterical. But critics warn that some of the administration’s moves are unconstitutional and pose a threat to American democracy.

Massimo Mascoli, a 68-year-old retired electronics engineer who lives in New Jersey and grew up in Italy, said he was protesting because he could not watch the United States descend into fascism as his country did in the last century.

“I am the nephew of an Italian hero who deserted Mussolini’s army and joined the resistance,” Mascoli said. “I was tortured and killed by fascists, and 80 years later, I never expected to find fascism again in the United States.”

Mascoli is particularly concerned about the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration, the implementation of wide-ranging tariffs, the deployment of National Guard troops in American cities, and cuts to health care for millions of Americans.

“We can’t rely on the Supreme Court, and we can’t rely on the government,” Mascoli said. “We can’t rely on Congress. We have all the legislative, executive and judicial powers that are all against the American people right now. So we’re fighting.”

Protests are expected to continue across the country throughout the day. In Washington, D.C., Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders delivered a keynote address.

“We are not here because we hate America, we are here because we love America,” he told a crowd of thousands.

At the DC march, the BBC saw a man wearing a hat emblazoned with Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan, who said he was in town for a visit and decided to check out the protest. He declined to give his name, but said that although he didn’t really “get it,” people were civil. Shortly after, a woman shouted a derogatory comment at him.

Across Europe, demonstrators took to the streets in Berlin, Madrid and Rome earlier Saturday to show solidarity with their American counterparts. A few hundred demonstrators also gathered outside the US Embassy in London.

In Toronto, demonstrators near the US Consulate General waved signs including “Hands off Canada.”

Protest organizers in the United States said the rallies would challenge Trump’s “tyranny.”

In an interview with Fox News, scheduled to air Sunday but teased Saturday, Trump appeared to address upcoming rallies.

“King! This is not business,” Trump said in a preliminary clip of the interview. “You know – they refer to me as a king. I’m not a king.”

“We’re going to have to get the National Guard out,” Kansas State Senator Roger Marshall said before the marches, according to CNN.

“I hope it’s peaceful. I doubt it.”

Republican governors in several US states have placed National Guard forces on alert, but it is unclear how clear the military presence is there.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday activated the state’s National Guard ahead of a scheduled protest in Austin, the state capital.

He said the troops would be needed because of a “planned demonstration associated with the Antifa movement.”

Democrats denounced the move, including the state’s top Democrat, Gene Wu, who said: “Sending armed soldiers to quell peaceful protests is what kings and tyrants do — and Greg Abbott has proven to be one of them.”

Virginia’s Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin also ordered the activation of the state’s National Guard, although local reports said troops were not present during the protest.

In Washington, D.C., where the National Guard has been deployed since August at Trump’s request, no troops showed up at the protest, although local police did.

One of the demonstrators at the march in the capital held a sign reading, “I am Antifa.”

Chuck Epps, 76, said it’s a “laden” term, meaning only that he supports “peace, day care, livable wages and health care,” as well as immigrants and people of color.

“He’s fooling everyone – or he’s trying to, and it’s not working,” he said.

Americans are deeply divided over Donald Trump. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that only 40% approved of his performance as president, while 58% opposed it. This puts him on par with his average approval ratings during his first term, but lower than his 47% approval rating when he took office for the second time in January.

It is common for presidents to become less popular as their term ends. Joe Biden had an approval rating of 55%, according to Reuters/Ipsos, in January 2021. By October of that year, his approval rating had fallen to 46%.

With additional reporting by Anna Vaje