As demonstrators from coast to coast<\/a> articulated the view that there must be \u201cNo Kings\u201d in America, and insisted that the country\u2019s somewhat beleaguered constitution was unambiguous on the issue, Trump eagerly moved to portray himself as a monarch. <\/p>\n On his Truth Social platform, he reposted an AI-created video that was distributed earlier on Saturday by Vice President JD Vance. It depicts Trump cloaked in royal regalia, and brandishing a sword as subjects kneel before him. He later posted another AI-generated video<\/a> showing himself in a fighter jet, wearing a crown, pouring brown sludge onto protesters.<\/p>\n On Monday, the White House will assuredly tell reporters that the President was just exercising his sense of humour, as they did earlier this month<\/a> when he posted racist, AI-created portrayals<\/a> of political opponents including Democrat leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries. But the notion that any American president would ever feel sufficiently emboldened to picture himself as a monarch is fresh evidence that the future of America\u2019s democracy is very fragile in Trump\u2019s hands<\/a>.<\/p>\n New FeatureIn ShortQuick Stories. Same trusted journalism.<\/p>\n On Capitol Hill, his top supporters insisted it was Trump\u2019s critics who were the un-American ones. Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, called the \u201cNo Kings\u201d protests \u201cthe hate America rally\u201d, with \u201cHamas supporters\u2026Antifa types\u201d and \u201cMarxists on full display\u201d. He characterised protesters as \u201cpeople who don\u2019t want to stand and defend the foundational truths of this Republic\u201d.<\/p>\n Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas called for new laws that would allow anyone funding the \u201cNo Kings\u201d movement to be prosecuted under anti-mafia racketeering statutes. \u201cThere\u2019s considerable evidence that George Soros and his network is behind funding these rallies which may well turn into riots\u201d, he insisted<\/a> late last week on Fox News. But earlier this month, the conservative watchdog that first claimed to have unearthed evidence of the Hungarian financer\u2019s involvement with \u201cNo Kings\u201d conceded<\/a> that Soros\u2019s Open Society Foundations had done nothing to break any American law.<\/p>\n The demonstrators themselves argue that they are the defenders of America\u2019s democratic experiment, and that is coming under unique attack at the hands of Trump. Several Democrats in Congress released a video<\/a> on social media that urged military veterans to turn out on Saturday and voice opposition to the President\u2019s threat to flood the streets of American cities with active duty military personnel. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen this authoritarian playbook before in too many other countries\u201d, said Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat from New York who organised the effort.\u00a0\u201cLet\u2019s do what we do best\u201d, she said encouraging veterans to participate in the protests, \u201cbecause America has no king.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n It is impossible to know exactly how many people mobilised across the country on Saturday. But The New York Times, having irritated protesters on Friday night by claiming that it would not attempt to count numbers and would instead focus on the demonstrators\u2019 message instead, was engaged in the numbers game a mere 24 hours later. \u201cIn major metropolitan areas, like Washington DC the numbers were huge,\u201d the newspaper reported<\/a>. \u201cA rally in Atlanta that drew thousands at one point covered three city blocks. A protest in San Francisco poured across five. One rally in Chicago stretched over 22,\u201d the dispatch continued.<\/p>\n Whatever the numbers, the rallies revealed yet again that grassroots Americans who oppose Trump are essentially leaderless in their opposition to him. The \u201cNo Kings\u201d movement has been organically organised by various progressive groups including \u201cMoveOn.Org\u201d<\/a>, \u201cIndivisible\u201d<\/a> and \u201c50501\u201d<\/a>, each of them pledging to confront Trump\u2019s authoritarianism<\/a>, end his executive over-reach and defend the constitution.<\/p>\n![\"Demonstrators](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SEI_270755699.jpg\")
Demonstrators against Trump in Washington DC (Photo: Kylie Cooper\/ Reuters)<\/p>\n![\"CHICAGO,](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SEI_270824043.jpg\")
Protesters outside Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago during the second No Kings march (Photo: Joe Raedle\/Getty)<\/p>\n![\"PORTLAND,](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SEI_270902658.jpg\")
Protesters outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland, Oregon on the day of the No Kings protest (Photo: Mathieu Lewis-Rolland\/Getty)<\/p>\n![\"Protesters](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SEI_270841510.jpg\")
The Civic Center in San Francisco during the second nationwide No Kings protest (Photo: Stephen Lam\/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SEI_270759905.jpg\")
A man dressed as former US President George Washington in Boston, Massachusetts (Photo: Brian Snyder\/Reuters)<\/p>\n