# No Kings protests draw crowds across the U.S. and rallies abroad
*Event date: 2025-10-18*
Crowds gathered across the United States for the latest round of No Kings protests against the Trump administration, with events planned in more than 2,700 locations and at least one demonstration in every state. The packet says the rallies ranged from New York’s Times Square to parks in Boston, Atlanta and Chicago, as well as Washington, Los Angeles, state capitols and smaller public spaces across the country.
The scale of the day is important because the protests were not isolated to one city or one issue. Organizers said the movement had spread coast to coast and even near Mar-a-Lago in Florida, where the president was spending the weekend. They also said the day drew more people than similar events on June 14, which they presented as a sign of broader energy behind the demonstrations.
The crowds were visible in different forms. Some people carried signs with patriotic slogans and constitutional language, while others leaned into the protest culture that has become associated with recent anti-Trump rallies. In Portland, inflatable frog costumes appeared again, reflecting how a symbol can become part of a recurring street protest identity.
The complaints driving the marches were also broad. Protesters said they were angry about the administration’s crackdown on undocumented migrants, the deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles, the sending of troops into Washington and Memphis, and planned deployments to Chicago and Portland that had been blocked by courts. The packet also says demonstrators were upset about attacks on the media, prosecutions of political opponents and other actions they viewed as authoritarian.
Outside the United States, solidarity demonstrations were held at U.S. embassies in Berlin, Rome, Paris and Sweden. That detail matters because it shows the protest was being read internationally, not only as a domestic dispute but as a symbol of how American politics is being watched abroad.
The political response was sharply polarized. Donald Trump dismissed the protests, saying he was not a king and later calling the events a joke. Top Republican figures used the “Hate America” label, while House Speaker Mike Johnson and Representative Tom Emmer framed the demonstrations as a gathering of radicals rather than a civic expression.
Some governors also prepared for possible unrest. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin activated the National Guard and announced a larger police presence, while Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the Guard and public safety employees would be surged to Austin. In Portland, tensions rose near an ICE facility, where federal agents at times used tear gas and city police threatened arrests if streets were blocked.
At the same time, organizers and participants insisted the rallies were rooted in patriotism, not hostility to the country. One coalition leader described the crowds as people who love the country and believe it is worth fighting for. That tension, between protest as civic duty and protest as threat, sits at the center of the No Kings story.
The packet supports a simple but powerful conclusion: the rallies were widespread, politically charged and symbolically loaded. They drew participants in major cities, smaller towns and foreign capitals, and they produced the sort of partisan reaction that now defines almost every large-scale protest in the United States.
