{"id":856864,"date":"2026-03-28T21:29:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T21:29:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/856864\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T21:29:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T21:29:15","slug":"minnesota-leads-wave-of-anti-trump-protests-across-us-in-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/856864\/","title":{"rendered":"Minnesota leads wave of anti-Trump protests across US, in Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) \u2014 Crowds of people protested Saturday against the war in Iran and President Donald Trump\u2019s actions<\/a>, in \u201cNo Kings\u201d rallies across the U.S. and in Europe. Minnesota took center stage, in what organizers expected to be mass demonstrations involving millions of people. <\/p>\n

Thousands of people stood shoulder-to-shoulder on the Minnesota Capitol lawn and surrounding streets in St. Paul. Some held upside down U.S. flags, historically a sign of distress. <\/p>\n

The event\u2019s headliner was Bruce Springsteen<\/a>, who performed \u201c Streets of Minneapolis<\/a>,\u201d He wrote the song in response to the fatal shootings of Renee Good<\/a> and Alex Pretti<\/a> by federal agents and in tribute to the thousands of Minnesotans who took to the streets over the winter to protest the Trump administration\u2019s aggressive immigration enforcement. <\/p>\n

Before he launched into the song, Springsteen lamented Good and Pretti\u2019s deaths but said people\u2019s continued pushback against U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement has given the rest of the country hope. <\/p>\n

\u201cYour strength and your commitment told us that this was still America,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd this reactionary nightmare, and these invasions of American cities, will not stand.\u201d<\/p>\n

People rallied from New York City, with almost 8.5 million residents in a solidly blue state, to Driggs, a town of fewer than 2,000 people in eastern Idaho, a state Trump carried with 66% of the vote in 2024. <\/p>\n

Biggest crowds yet expected<\/p>\n

U.S. organizers have estimated that the first two rounds of No Kings rallies drew more than 5 million people in June<\/a> and 7 million in October.<\/a> This week they told reporters they expected 9 million participants Saturday, though it was too early to tell whether those expectations were met. <\/p>\n

Organizers said more than 3,100 events<\/a> \u2014 500 more than in October \u2014 were registered, in all 50 states. <\/p>\n

In Topeka, Kansas, a rally outside the Statehouse had people impersonating a frog king and Trump as a baby. Wendy Wyatt drove with \u201cCats Against Trump\u201d sign from Lawrence, 20 miles (32 kilometers) to the east, and planned to drive back to her hometown for a later rally there.<\/p>\n

Wyatt said \u201cthere are so many things\u201d about the Trump administration that upset her, but \u201cthis is very hopeful to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

GOP officials dismissive of protests<\/p>\n

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson characterized them as the product of \u201cleftist funding networks\u201d with little real public support.<\/p>\n

The \u201conly people who care about these Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions are the reporters who are paid to cover them,\u201d Jackson said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The National Republican Congressional Committee was also sharply critical.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese Hate America Rallies are where the far-left\u2019s most violent, deranged fantasies get a microphone,\u201d NRCC spokesperson Maureen O\u2019Toole said.<\/p>\n

Protesters have a long list of causes<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s immigration enforcement push, particularly in Minnesota, was just one item on a long list of protester grievances that also included the war in Iran and the rollback of transgender rights<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In Washington, hundreds marched past the Lincoln Memorial and into the National Mall, holding signs that read \u201cPut down the crown, clown\u201d and \u201cRegime change begins at home.\u201d Demonstrators rang bells, played drums and chanted \u201cNo kings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bill Jarcho was there from Seattle, joined by six people dressed as insects wearing tactical vests that said, \u201cLICE\u201d \u2014 spoofing ICE, as part of what he called a \u201cmock and awe\u201d tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we provide is mockery to the king,\u201d Jarcho said. \u201cIt\u2019s about taking authoritarianism and making fun of it, which they hate.\u201d <\/p>\n

About 40,000 people marched in San Diego, police there said. <\/p>\n

In New York, Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said during a news conference that Trump and his supporters want people to be afraid to protest.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey want us to be afraid that there\u2019s nothing we can do to stop them,\u201d she said. \u201cBut you know what? They are wrong \u2014 dead wrong.\u201d <\/p>\n

Organizers said two-thirds of RSVPs for the rallies came from outside of major urban centers. That included communities in conservative-leaning states like Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, South Dakota and Louisiana, as well in electorally competitive suburbs in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona.<\/p>\n

Main event at the Minnesota Capitol <\/p>\n

Organizers designated the rally there as the national flagship event. <\/p>\n

Before Springsteen took the stage, organizers played a video in which actor Robert DeNiro said he wakes up every morning depressed because of Trump but was happier Saturday because millions of people were protesting. He also congratulated Minnesotans for running ICE out of town. <\/p>\n

The bill also included singer Joan Baez<\/a>, actor Jane Fonda<\/a>, Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders<\/a> and a long list of activists, labor leaders and elected officials. <\/p>\n

Protesters held up a massive sign on the Capitol steps that read, \u201cWe had whistles, they had guns. The revolution starts in Minneapolis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rallies outside the US<\/p>\n

Demonstrations were also planned in more than a dozen other countries, from Europe to Latin America to Australia, Ezra Levin, a co-executive director of Indivisible, a group spearheading the events, said in an interview. In countries with constitutional monarchies, people call the protests \u201cNo Tyrants,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In Rome, thousands marched with defiant chants aimed at Premier Giorgia Meloni, whose conservative government saw its referendum for streamlining Italy\u2019s judiciary<\/a> fail badly this week amid criticism that it was a threat to the courts\u2019 independence. Protesters also waved banners protesting Israeli and US attacks on Iran, calling for \u201cA world free from wars.\u201d<\/p>\n

In London, people protesting the war held banners with slogans such as \u201cStop the far right\u201d and \u201cStand up to Racism.\u201d<\/p>\n

And in Paris, several hundred people, mostly Americans living in France, along with labor unions and human rights organizations, gathered at the Bastille.<\/p>\n

\u201cI protest all of Trump\u2019s illegal, immoral, reckless, and feckless, endless wars,\u201d rally organizer Ada Shen said. <\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Richmond reported from Madison, Wisconsin, and Hanna from Topeka, Kansas. Associated Press journalists Nicholas Garriga in Paris, Mike Pesoli in Washington, Colleen Berry in Milan and Amy Taxin in Santa Ana, California, contributed. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) \u2014 Crowds of people protested Saturday against the war in Iran and President Donald…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":856865,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5174],"tags":[244168,244170,215133,244171,7627,26203,12261,32,244175,2000,299,5187,2440,40,774,83163,125002,157327,244173,244172,8697,76745,4447,8501,285,13216,214644,244169,5213,244174],"class_list":["post-856864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-eu","tag-abigail-jackson","tag-ada-shen","tag-alex-pretti","tag-bill-jarcho","tag-bruce-springsteen","tag-dc-wire","tag-district-of-columbia","tag-donald-trump","tag-donna-lieberman","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-european","tag-giorgia-meloni","tag-immigration","tag-iran","tag-iran-war","tag-italy-government","tag-jane-fonda","tag-joan-baez","tag-maureen-otoole","tag-minnesota","tag-mn-state-wire","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-politics","tag-protests-and-demonstrations","tag-renee-good","tag-robert-deniro","tag-united-states-government","tag-wendy-wyatt"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116308932355863866","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=856864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=856864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=856864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=856864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}