Massive Anti-Trump Protests Sweep Across the US

“From a few hundred people gathered on the side of a road in St. Petersburg, Florida, to tens of thousands in Manhattan, the third wave of protests of the No Kings movement has once again mobilized citizens across the country to protest President Donald Trump and his administration,” summarized Mother Jones.

As clearly evidenced by the slogans, signs, and speeches at Saturday’s events, “countless Americans are outraged by the violence of immigration agents in American cities, the rising cost of living, the ongoing war against Iran, and the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal by the administration,” observed the progressive magazine.

The approximately 3,300 rallies organized on Saturday marked the third day of action by the No Kings coalition since Donald Trump returned to the White House. According to organizers, the processions gathered at least eight million people, one million more than during the last day of action in October – numbers not independently verified.

“Orange Clown” Headed to the “Trash Bins of History”

The flagship event of the day was undoubtedly the planned gathering in front of the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul, the epicenter of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) police violence earlier this year.

“According to organizers, over 200,000 people attended this event, dedicating as much time to celebrate Minnesota residents who resisted the anti-immigration federal policy as to attack President Donald Trump,” stated The Minnesota Star Tribune.

Several “big names in music and progressive politics headlined this event, including Senator Bernie Sanders, Joan Baez, Maggie Rogers, and Jane Fonda,” specified the newspaper. Singer Bruce Springsteen, also present, performed his song “Streets of Minneapolis,” written in memory of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, shot by ICE in January.

Democratic Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota, in his speech, did not hesitate to label Donald Trump as a “dictator in the making” and an “orange clown” heading to the “trash bins of history,” reported Fox News.

He accused the White House of sending “aggressive and untrained hooligans” to “cause trouble” in his state, holding the administration responsible for the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and demanding justice for his “traumatized” community.

Clashes in Portland and Los Angeles

As in previous editions, the parades were mostly peaceful, although tensions rose in the evening on the West Coast. In Portland, clashes erupted between federal agents and masked protestors outside ICE offices after the processions dispersed.

In Los Angeles, where over 100,000 people marched, “law enforcement officers arrested dozens of protesters after firing tear gas and pepper balls into the crowd, injuring at least one person in the eye and burning others on the skin,” reported The Los Angeles Times.

The “confrontation” between “police, some on horseback, and a small group of protesters” continued into the evening, in front of a federal detention center, specified the west coast daily.

Although Donald Trump did not react to the protests on Saturday night, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson did not hold back in calling them “therapy sessions for the anti-Trump choir,” insisting that they only interested “journalists paid to cover them,” noted NPR.

Republican Strongholds Join In

CNN noted, however, that “almost half of these protests took place in Republican strongholds. Texas, Florida, and Ohio each had over 100 planned events for the day,” and states like “Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah showed double-digit numbers of gatherings.”

Even more revealing, “rural communities with a Republican tendency participated for the first time today in the movement, from Seward (Alaska) to East Glacier Park (Montana),” highlighted the American channel.

But will this massive mobilization be enough to “change the course of national political life?” The New York Times pondered. “Will the protest movements be able to channel this energy to turn it into victories in the November midterm elections? How can we prevent this primal scream from eventually fading into a mere whimper?”

The rise of protests “does not guarantee political victories, as evidenced by the tumultuous history of protest movements in the country,” confirmed The Washington Post.

“But for those who are mobilizing, these acts of resistance,” whether in Democratic cities or Republican strongholds, “prove that democracy is alive, even under the rule of a self-proclaimed ‘king,'” observed the newspaper.