8 million protesters march across US against Trump on ‘No Kings’ day
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Demonstrators holding effigies of US President Donald Trump and administration officials during the nationwide "No Kings" day of rallies in Washington on March 28.
PHOTO: AFP
- Millions protested across the US against President Trump's policies, including immigration, high prices, and the war with Iran, organised by "No Kings" movement.
- Protests occurred in cities and towns, with participants criticising Trump's authoritarian governance, executive decrees, and military actions, impacting midterm elections.
- Bruce Springsteen performed in St Paul, honouring citizens killed during immigration protests, highlighting the movement's focus on resistance to Trump's policies.
AI generated
MINNEAPOLIS – Huge crowds rallied across the US on March 28 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.
Organisers said “at least eight million people gathered today at more than 3,300 events across all 50 states”, from big cities and small towns. The US authorities provided no national crowd estimate.
It was the third time in less than a year that Americans had taken to the streets as part of a grassroots movement called “No Kings”, the most vocal and visual conduit for opposition to Mr 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 due to join 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.”
People in New York carrying a figure depicting US President Donald Trump during the city’s “No Kings” protest on March 28.
PHOTO: REUTERS
In the Michigan town of West Bloomfield, near Detroit, people braved below-freezing temperatures to protest.
In the US capital Washington, thousands of marchers – some carrying banners proclaiming “Trump Must Go Now!” and “Fight Fascism” – flocked to the National Mall.
The police waiting for the “No Kings” march to set off from the Georgia State Capitol building in Atlanta.
PHOTO: AFP
“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.
Mr Trump himself was in Florida for the weekend.
In Washington, thousands of marchers – some carrying banners that blared “Trump Must Go Now!” and “Fight Fascism” – flocked to the National Mall.
PHOTO: AFP
The anti-Trump mood has spread beyond US borders, with rallies on March 28 in European cities, including Amsterdam, Madrid and Rome, where 20,000 people marched under a heavy police presence.
Record numbers expected
The first No Kings nationwide protest day came in June 2025 on Mr 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 such protest, in October, drew an estimated seven million protesters, according to organisers.
People taking part in a “No Kings” protest against war, authoritarianism, genocide and repression in Rome on March 28.
PHOTO: EPA
Just as Mr 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.
Mr Trump’s approval rating has sunk below 40 per cent, and midterm elections loom in November, with Trump’s Republicans 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.
They also dislike his gutting of racial and gender diversity programmes 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 Mr Naveed Shah of Common Defence, a veterans’ association connected to the No Kings movement.
“At home, we’ve watched citizens killed in the streets by militarised 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 organisers said rallies were staged across the US, 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.
In winter, the twin cities of Minneapolis and St Paul became ground zero for the national debate over Mr 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 Mr Trump, performed his song Streets Of Minneapolis in the twin city of St Paul, the capital of the northern state, where thousands gathered.
Springsteen wrote and recorded the protest ballad in just 24 hours in memory of Ms Renee Good and Mr Alex Pretti, two US citizens shot dead by federal agents during January protests against Mr Trump’s immigration offensive.
“Their bravery, their sacrifice and their names will not be forgotten,” he said on March 28 before breaking into song. AFP
