Protesters out in force for anti-Trump 'No Kings' rallies across US

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Huge crowds took to the streets in all 50 US states at "No Kings" protests on Saturday, venting anger over President Donald Trump's hardline policies, while Republicans ridiculed them as "Hate America" rallies.

Organisers said seven million people marched in protests spanning New York to Los Angeles, with demonstrations popping up in small cities across the US heartland and even near Trump's home in Florida.

"This is what democracy looks like!" chanted thousands in Washington near the US Capitol, where the federal government was shut down for a third week because of a legislative deadlock.

Colourful signs called on people to "protect democracy," while others demanded the country abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency at the centre of Trump's anti-immigrant crackdown.

Protesters rally during the "No Kings" national day of protest in Kansas City, Missouri on October 18, 2025. From New York to San Francisco, millions of Americans are expected to hit the streets to voice their anger over President Donald Trump's policies at nationwide "No Kings" protests.

Demonstrators slammed what they called the Republican billionaire's strong-arm tactics, including attacks on the media, political opponents and undocumented immigrants.

"I never thought I would live to see the death of my country as a democracy," 69-year-old retiree Colleen Hoffman told AFP as she marched down Broadway in New York.

"We are in a crisis -- the cruelty of this regime, the authoritarianism. I just feel like I cannot sit home and do nothing."

In Los Angeles, protesters floated a giant balloon of Trump in a diaper.

Many flew flags, with at least one referencing pirate anime hit "One Piece", brandishing the skull logo that has recently become a staple of anti-government protests from Peru to Madagascar.

"Fight Ignorance not migrants," read one sign at a protest in Houston, where nearly one-quarter of the population is made up of immigrants, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

While animated, the protests were largely peaceful.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker (C) attends a rally during the "No Kings" national day of protest in Chicago on October 18, 2025. From New York to San Francisco, millions of Americans are expected to hit the streets to voice their anger over President Donald Trump's policies at nationwide "No Kings" protests.

But in downtown Los Angeles, police fired nonlethal rounds and tear gas late Saturday to disperse crowds that included "No Kings" protesters, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"After thousands of people gathered to express their constitutional 1st Amendment rights peacefully earlier in the day, nearly a hundred agitators marched over to Aliso and Alameda" where they used lasers and industrial-size flashing lights, the LAPD Central Division said on X.

"A Dispersal Order was issued and the demonstrators were dispersed from the area," it added, without specifying if any arrests were made.

Trump responds

It was not possible to independently verify the organisers' attendance figures. In New York, authorities said more than 100,000 gathered at one of the largest protests, while in Washington, crowds were estimated at between 8,000 and 10,000 people.

Trump's response to Saturday's events was typically aggressive, with the US president posting a series of AI-generated videos to his Truth Social platform depicting him as a king.

In one, he is shown wearing a crown and piloting a fighter jet that drops what appears to be faeces on anti-Trump protesters.

His surrogates were in fighting form, too, with House Speaker Mike Johnson deriding the rallies as being "Hate America" protests.

"You're going to bring together the Marxists, the Socialists, the Antifa advocates, the anarchists and the pro-Hamas wing of the far-left Democrat Party," he told reporters.

Protesters treated that claim with ridicule.

"Look around! If this is hate, then someone should go back to grade school," said Paolo, 63, as the crowd chanted and sang around him in Washington.

Others underlined the deep polarisation tearing apart American politics.

"Here's the thing about what right-wingers say: I don't give a crap. They hate us," said Tony, a 34-year-old software engineer.

'Country of equals' 

Deirdre Schifeling of the American Civil Liberties Union said protesters wanted to convey that "we are a country of equals."

Mounted LAPD officers push back a crowd of protesters that gathered at the Metropolitan Detention Center after a rally during the "No Kings" national day of protest in Los Angeles, California on October 18, 2025. From New York to San Francisco, millions of Americans are expected to hit the streets to voice their anger over President Donald Trump's policies at nationwide "No Kings" protests.

"We are a country of laws that apply to everyone, of due process and of democracy. We will not be silenced," she told reporters.

Leah Greenberg, co-founder of the Indivisible Project, slammed the Trump administration's efforts to send National Guard troops into Democratic-led US cities, including Los Angeles, Washington, Chicago, Portland and Memphis.

"It is the classic authoritarian playbook: threaten, smear and lie, scare people into submission," Greenberg said.

Addressing the crowd outside the US Capitol, progressive Senator Bernie Sanders warned of the dangers democracy faced under Trump.

"We have a president who wants more and more power in his own hands and in the hands of his fellow oligarchs," he said.

Isaac Harder, 16, said he feared for his generation's future.

"It's a fascist trajectory. And I want to do anything I can to stop that."