Millions of Americans marched in an unprecedented nationwide day of dissent on Saturday, October 18, 2025, mobilizing in over 2,600 locations across all 50 states for the second major “No Kings” protest against President Donald Trump’s second-term policies, including aggressive immigration crackdowns and the domestic deployment of federal forces.
- Mass Mobilization: Organizers estimate 7 million people participated in the October 18th “No Kings” rallies nationwide, encompassing over 2,600 events in every US state and internationally (Al Jazeera, The Guardian). This figure, if confirmed, would surpass the first “No Kings” protest in June 2025, which saw over 5 million participants.
- Core Grievances: The primary complaints driving the massive Anti-Trump Protests center on what demonstrators and organizers call the administration’s authoritarian practices, including the deployment of National Guard troops in US cities, attacks on the media, and sweeping immigration enforcement.
- Political Backdrop: The rallies took place against the backdrop of a protracted government shutdown—headed into its third week—amid a legislative deadlock between the White House and Congress, which protesters cited as further evidence of governing dysfunction.
- Key Locations: Major cities saw massive turnout, including New York City (over 100,000 attendees, according to NYPD), Chicago (an estimated 100,000 attendees, according to The Chicago Tribune), and large gatherings in Washington, D.C., Boston, and Los Angeles.
- Official Response: President Trump dismissed the underlying premise of the protest, stating, “They say they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” in a Fox News interview broadcast Friday. Republican leaders, meanwhile, characterized the protests as “Hate America” rallies.
- Atmosphere: The demonstrations were overwhelmingly peaceful, often taking on a “street carnival atmosphere” with elaborate inflatable costumes—a symbol of resistance originating in Portland—and marching bands. However, small, isolated clashes with law enforcement were reported near ICE buildings in Portland and Los Angeles after the main events concluded.
An Accelerating Democratic Erosion
The October 18th “No Kings” day of action represents the third major mass mobilization against the Trump administration since his return to the White House and arrives at a critical juncture for U.S. democracy. The movement’s name itself, “No Kings,” is a direct historical challenge, rooted in the idea that the President is acting like a monarch, violating the American post-1776 principle of non-single-sovereign rule.
The widespread protest follows a period of heightened concern among former intelligence and national security officials. A sobering intelligence-style assessment released in October 2025 by The Steady State, a network of former U.S. security officials, concluded with “moderate to high confidence” that the U.S. is on a “trajectory” toward “competitive authoritarianism” (The Guardian). This assessment cited the expansion of executive power, the politicization of the civil service, and noncompliance with the judiciary as key indicators of democratic decline.
The public’s anxiety appears to mirror these expert warnings. According to a May 2025 survey, Americans’ top worries included government corruption (54% very worried) and the state of democracy in the U.S.
What Fueled the October 18th Mobilization
The protest movement, organized by a coalition of over 200 groups, including Indivisible and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), was fundamentally a reaction to specific, aggressive policy actions taken by the administration in the preceding months.
I. Executive Overreach and Militarization
The deployment of federal forces, specifically National Guard troops, into cities like Los Angeles and Chicago to enforce administration policies—often over the objections of local governments—was a major catalyst.
“I was actually OK with everything until I found that the military invasion in Los Angeles and Chicago and Portland—Portland bothered me the most, because I’m from Portland, and I don’t want the military in my cities. That’s scary,” said Hayley Wingard, a demonstrator dressed as the Statue of Liberty in San Francisco.
II. Immigration Enforcement and ICE Actions
The administration’s “sweeping immigration crackdown” and the aggressive tactics of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency were central to the demonstrations. Signs demanding the abolition of ICE were widely displayed. In Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson publicly criticized the administration’s actions: “We will not bend, we will not bow, we will not cower, we will not submit,” he stated at the rally, adding, “We do not want troops in our city”.
III. The Government Shutdown Impasse
The ongoing government shutdown, which was nearing the end of its third week on the day of the protest, provided a tangible example of Washington’s dysfunction and the administration’s confrontational stance with Congress. Protesters linked the shutdown impasse to the broader theme of executive power overriding legislative authority.
Latest Data and Statistics on the Protests
The “No Kings” rallies were a statistically significant display of public opposition, demonstrating a continued upward trend in anti-administration mobilization since the start of the year.
- Estimated Nationwide Participation (Organizers’ Count, October 18, 2025): Organizers reported that an estimated 7 million people attended the rallies nationwide (Al Jazeera). This figure represents a minimum 40% increase in claimed turnout compared to the last major “No Kings” protest in June 2025, which organizers estimated drew over 5 million Americans . Independent verification of the 7 million figure is ongoing, but crowd estimates from anchor cities confirm a substantial turnout.
- Number of Organized Events (October 18, 2025): A coalition of over 200 progressive groups organized more than 2,600 events across all 50 states. This is up from the 2,100 registered locations for the first “No Kings” day in June, illustrating a growing organizational reach into smaller towns and conservative suburbs.
- City-Specific Crowd Estimates (October 18, 2025): While official police estimates are often conservative, key city figures indicate the scale of the mobilization:
- New York City: Over 100,000 people gathered in Times Square and across the city’s boroughs..
- Chicago: An estimated 100,000 people attended the protest and two-mile march, which passed Trump Tower.
- Portland, Oregon: An estimated 40,000 people participated in the peaceful downtown demonstration..
These numbers confirm the October 18th event as one of the largest single-day mass demonstrations in recent U.S. history
Official Responses and Political Reaction
The reaction to the mass mobilization fell along stark partisan lines, highlighting the deeply divided political climate in Washington.
Presidential Response
President Donald Trump, who was spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, sought to downplay the underlying concern of the movement while simultaneously addressing it.
He told Fox Business on Friday: “They say they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king… I’m a man with great common sense—a smart person.”.
Later on Saturday, the President posted a series of AI-generated videos to his Truth Social platform that ironically depicted him in a royal, king-like posture, seemingly attempting to co-opt or ridicule the movement’s central theme.
Republican and Democratic Stances
In Congress, the protests became another point of conflict amid the government shutdown.
Republican leaders sought to portray the demonstrators in dark political terms. Several GOP Congressional leaders referred to the protests as “Hate America” rallies, with some suggesting they were meant to appease a “terrorist wing” of the Democratic Party. This rhetoric was used in arguments that framed the rallies as a reason to prolong the government shutdown, claiming the protesters were outside the American mainstream.
Democrats and Organizers embraced the day as a vital exercise in constitutional rights.
Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), paraphrased the sentiment of many on his side of the aisle, saying that “Showing up to express dissent against an out-of-control administration, that’s as American as motherhood, baseball and apple pie”.
Democratic Senators, including Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, actively participated. Speaking in Washington, D.C., Senator Sanders warned that the American experiment is “in danger” under the current administration, insisting, “We the people will rule.
Expert Analysis: A Turnaround for Opposition
The size and reach of the October 18th mobilization have been viewed by analysts as a significant indicator of a revitalized opposition movement, particularly following a period where Democrats seemed to struggle to counter the Republican-controlled White House and Congress.
The Power of Collective Identity
Dana Fisher, a professor at American University and author on U.S. activism, highlighted the psychological and political purpose of the mass action. Fisher suggested that the core goal of the “day of action is to create a sense of collective identity amongst all the people who are feeling like they are being persecuted or are anxious due to the Trump administration and its policies.” While such protests may not immediately alter policy, they serve a crucial function in unifying the opposition base and providing momentum.
Resistance and The Future of Democracy
Ezra Levin, co-founder of the key organizing group Indivisible, viewed the massive turnout as a necessary show of force against creeping authoritarianism. “What we are seeing from the Democrats is some spine,” Levin noted. “The worst thing the Democrats could do right now is surrender”. The movement is intended to galvanize people into ongoing political engagement, transforming rally participants into committed activists.
Former officials from The Steady State pointed to the “No Kings” protest as a potentially “meaningful show of public resistance” that is necessary to prevent the “accelerating democratic erosion” they warned about in their October assessment. The protests themselves become a vital, organized resistance by civil society against executive dominance.
Impact on People and What to Watch Next
For many participants, the rallies provided a sense of community and validation, particularly in states where the protest-related sentiment is a minority view. “It just feels like we’re living in an America that I don’t recognize,” said Jessica Yother, a mother of four who attended the rally in Birmingham, Alabama. I walked in and thought, ‘Here are my people.’.
The widespread use of colorful signs and inflatable costumes, particularly the frog costume, which has become an anti-ICE symbol in Portland, demonstrated a mood of “strategic frivolity“—a tactic designed by organizers to frame the dissent as peaceful and patriotic, countering the “terrorist wing” characterization from the GOP. Organizers trained “tens of thousands” of people in de-escalation to ensure the day remained largely peaceful, a strategy that appears to have succeeded given the lack of major incidents across thousands of events.
Looking ahead, the movement faces the challenge of translating this massive street presence into sustained political power. The next steps will likely focus on midterm elections and pressuring Congress to end the government shutdown and curtail what protesters see as the President’s authoritarian actions. Organizers hope this latest demonstration will serve as a powerful signal to all politicians: the public is mobilized and highly concerned about the state of American democracy.
The October 18th “No Kings” protest served as a powerful, multi-million-person demonstration of the deep unease felt by many Americans regarding the direction of the country under the Trump administration. Driven by specific grievances over immigration, executive overreach, and the militarization of civil society, these Anti-Trump Protests represented a collective shout that, for a day, drowned out the noise of Washington. The scale of the mobilization has affirmed the strength of the organized opposition, signaling to the world that even amidst a government shutdown and warnings of democratic decline, the American tradition of peaceful dissent remains a vibrant, massive force.
