Crowds Turn Out Against Would-Be Autocrat Donald Trump

Protesters converged on the focal point of the autocratic threat to American democracy on Saturday, on the street that fronts both President Donald Trump’s White House as well as the federal courthouse where he until last year faced criminal charges for his 2021 coup attempt.What appeared to be a hundred thousand people or more rallied to oppose the moves Trump has openly taken toward authoritarianism since his return to the White House in January. They carried signs and wore clothing with messages ranging from the direct – “NO KINGS, NO NAZIS, NO TRUMP” – to the subtle – a cap with the words “Gulf of Mexico,” referring to his decree that it now be called the Gulf of America.Chad Williams, who is 49 and works for local government in Maryland, compared today’s America to the final days of Germany’s Weimar Republic in the early 1930s.“There’s no pushback. There’s no deference of congressional power, which, of course, the Founders never thought would happen,” he said, adding that he finds it alarming that more Americans are not more frightened by Trump’s actions. “He feels he has no constraints and he’s surrounded himself with people that won’t fight back.”Williams and his wife, Cynthia Owens, carried several American flags, as did many of the protesters, to refute claims by Trump and his allies that the protests were anti-American or even terroristic.WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 18: People protest in Washington, DC as part of the No Kings Rallies on October 18, 2025 in Washington, DC. “All these people here today love this country,” said a man holding a hand-lettered sign reading “Welcome to the I Love America Rally.” He declined to give his name, citing his wife’s job in the federal government.The capital city’s protest was on Pennsylvania Avenue, blocks from the White House and directly in front of the E. Barrett Prettyman courthouse, where Trump was on track for a criminal trial because of his attempts to remain in power despite losing the 2020 election.The charges were dismissed after he won back the presidency, in accordance with Department of Justice policy not to prosecute a sitting president.A block further east hung a Big Brother-style portrait of Trump scowling from atop the Labor Department building.The protest featured a lineup of speakers capped off with progressive favourite, Vermont independent Senator Bernie Sanders. It was one of more than 2,600 “No Kings” events planned across the country on Saturday. A previous “No Kings” day on June 14, which coincided with a military parade Trump ordered for himself on his birthday, drew several million attendees. Organisers believed Saturday’s numbers would surpass that.Emma Cwalinski, a 25-year-old environmental consultant who wore a “No Kings” bib pinned to her shirt as she ran along the Mall, said she never supported Trump and has trouble understanding how someone who attempted a coup could manage to win a presidential nomination, let alone the presidency. She said many voters put their concerns about things like inflation ahead of democracy itself.“When someone’s saying, ‘Yeah, I’m going to fix it,’ you’re going to believe them,” she said. “I think a lot of people are realizing they made a mistake.”During his first term, Trump also wanted to use the military in American cities, prosecute his critics and ignore court rulings, but was reined in by top advisers and appointees like Defense Secretary James Mattis, chief of staff John Kelly and FBI director Chris Wray. After losing his reelection bid in 2020, Trump tried to install a political ally as attorney general to help him steal the election, but backed off when top lawyers at the Department of Justice and his own White House Counsel’s office told him they would resign en masse.This time, Trump has no institutionalists around him and has packed his White House and administration with people loyal to him personally first and foremost.Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI director Kash Patel have enthusiastically gone after those who previously tried to hold Trump accountable for his coup attempt and other actions. Homeland security adviser Stephen Miller has effectively reconstituted Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a secret police force. And Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has not offered any visible pushback against Trump’s use of the military for domestic law enforcement, which is specifically proscribed by law.“I took the oath so many times, both in the military and civil service. I know what it’s all about. We don’t go against our own citizens,” said Donnita Butler, a Virginia retiree who is 70 and served in both the Air Force and the Navy decades ago. “It’s what he’s agitating people to. He’s agitating us to hate each other, right? And it’s just horrific. I can’t believe people are falling for it.”Trump and his allies claimed that the millions protesting against him were essentially violent domestic terrorists – a term that, by definition, applies to Trump’s own followers who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021 – or were only there because they were paid to do so by billionaire philanthropist George Soros.Williams laughed at the notion and joked that he is still waiting on his Soros check. “It hasn’t come yet. I could really use it right now, honestly,” he said. “And I haven’t received my antifa package.”Trump himself was not in Washington for the protest. He had left the previous afternoon for his first golf weekend of the autumn at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach, Florida, country club. Saturday was the 75th day of his second term on a golf course he owns and marked his eighth $3.4 million trip to Florida. In all, his golf weekends and vacations have cost taxpayers $57.3 million since January.

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