Crowds demonstrate against would-be autocrat Trump, a few blocks from his seat of power

WASHINGTON – Protesters converged Saturday on the focal point of the autocratic threat to American democracy, on the street outside President Donald Trump’s White House and the federal courthouse where until last year he faced criminal charges for his 2021 coup attempt.

What appeared to be a hundred thousand or more people demonstrated to oppose the steps Trump has openly taken toward authoritarianism since his return to the White House in January. They carried signs and wore clothing with messages that ranged from the direct – “NO KINGS, NO NAZIS, NO TRUMP” – to the subtle – a cap with the words “Gulf of Mexico,” in reference to his decree that it will now be called the Gulf of America.

Chad Williams, who is 49 and works for local government in Maryland, compared today’s United States to the final days of Germany’s Weimar Republic in the early 1930s.

“There’s no pushback. There’s no deference to the power of Congress, which of course the Founders never thought would happen,” he said, adding that he finds it alarming that more Americans aren’t more frightened by Trump’s actions. “He feels that he has no limitations and that he has surrounded himself with people who will not defend themselves.”

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.

Tasos Katopodis via Getty Images

“All these people here today love this country,” said a man holding a handwritten sign that read “Welcome to the I Love America Rally.” He declined to give his name, citing his wife’s work in the federal government.

The capital city protest took place on Pennsylvania Avenue, blocks from the White House and directly across from the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse, where Trump was on his way to a criminal trial over his attempts to remain in power despite losing the 2020 election. (The charges were dismissed after he regained the presidency, in line with the Justice Department’s policy of not prosecuting a sitting president.) A block further east hung a Big Brother-style portrait of a scowling Trump from the top of the Department of Labor building.

The protest featured a slate of speakers topped by progressive front-runner, independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. It was one of more than 2,600 “No Kings” events planned across the country on Saturday. An earlier “No Kings” day, June 14, which coincided with a military parade Trump ordered for his birthday, drew several million attendees. Organizers believed Saturday’s numbers would exceed that figure.

Emma Cwalinski, a 25-year-old environmental consultant who wore a “No Kings” bib pinned to her shirt as she ran down the Mall, said she never supported Trump and has trouble understanding how someone who attempted a coup could manage to win a presidential nomination, much less the presidency. He said many voters put their concerns about things like inflation ahead of democracy itself.

“When someone says, ‘Yes, I’m going to fix it,’ you’re going to believe them,” he 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 he was stopped by top advisers and appointees such as Defense Secretary James Mattis, Chief of Staff John Kelly and FBI Director Chris Wray. After losing his re-election bid in 2020, Trump attempted to install a political ally as attorney general to help him steal the election, but backed down when top Justice Department lawyers 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 filled his White House and his administration with people loyal to him personally, first and foremost.

Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel have enthusiastically pursued those who previously attempted to hold Trump accountable for his coup attempt and other actions. National Security Advisor Stephen Miller has effectively reconstituted Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a secret police force. And Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has offered no visible reaction against Trump’s use of the military to enforce the law in the country, something that is specifically prohibited by law.

“I’ve taken the oath many times, both in military and civilian service. I know what it’s about. We’re not going against our own citizens,” said Donnita Butler, a Virginia retiree who is 70 and served in both the Air Force and Navy decades ago. “That’s what he’s inciting people to do. He’s inciting us to hate each other, right? And it’s just horrible. I can’t believe people are falling for this.”

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 supporters who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021) or that they were only there because billionaire philanthropist George Soros paid them to do so.

Williams laughed at the idea and joked that he’s still waiting for his check from Soros. “It’s not here yet. Honestly, I could use it right now,” 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 fall at Mar-a-Lago, his country club in Palm Beach, Florida. Saturday was the 75th day of his second term at a golf course he owns and marked his eighth $3.4 million trip to Florida. In total, his golf weekends and vacations have cost taxpayers $57.3 million since January.