On his 79th birthday, President Trump is getting a military parade – and millions of expected protestors

CNN

18 hours ago

As a military-style parade rolls through Washington, DC, on Saturday – President Donald Trump's birthday – millions are expected to take to the streets to form what organizers believe will be the strongest display of opposition to the administration since the president took office in January.
More than 1,800 protests across all 50 states are planned through the No Kings movement, which organizers say seeks to reject 'authoritarianism, billionaire-first politics, and the militarization of our democracy.'
The mobilization was planned as a direct response to Trump's military parade in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the US Army – which coincides with his 79th birthday.
In recent days, all eyes have been on Los Angeles, where Trump has deployed the National Guard and Marines in response to massive protests decrying immigration sweeps – an extraordinary move that protest organizers say has only served to mobilize participants to speak out against authoritarianism.
Prev
Next
Demonstrators have since been protesting immigration action in cities across the nation, including New York, Seattle, Chicago, Austin, Las Vegas and Washington, DC, while the administration has doubled down on its display of military force against its own citizens.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has suggested that the order used to federalize the National Guard to Los Angeles could make way for a similar response to protests in other states. And Texas Gov. Greg Abbott deployed the state's National Guard this week ahead of planned protests, including a 'No Kings' event in San Antonio on Saturday.
Missouri's governor, Mike Kehoe, also activated the state's National Guard on Thursday 'as a precautionary measure in reaction to recent instances of civil unrest across the country.'
'We respect, and will defend, the right to peacefully protest, but we will not tolerate violence or lawlessness in our state,' the Republican governor said in a statement.
Following the Hands Off! and 50501 protests this Spring, Saturday's demonstrations won't be the first nationwide rejection of Trump's policies – but organizers expect it to be the largest.
'Even conservative estimates say that 3.5 million people turned out for the Hands Off mobilization in April. That's already 1% of the population of the US,' Ezra Levin, co-executive director of Indivisible, the organization backing the No Kings movement, told CNN in a statement. 'No Kings is on track to exceed that by millions more. This is historic.'
Officials have estimated Saturday's parade, which will flaunt 7 million pounds of machines and weaponry through Washington, DC, on the president's birthday, could cost up to $45 million. Protest organizers are keeping the planned rallies out of the Capitol, hoping to pull focus away from the spectacle.
Instead, a flagship rally is being held in Philadelphia Saturday, as No Kings events are planned to kick off in every state of the nation – some with dozens of local events planned. More than 200 protest events are planned in California, and organizers are expecting especially big turnouts in Phoenix, Houston, Atlanta, Charlotte and Chicago, according to the No Kings website.
There are also a number of protests planned across the nation through other groups, meaning the turnout against the Trump administration could be even larger than projected.
On Wednesday evening, No Kings organizers spoke to more than 4,000 people on a Zoom call – many of them local hosts for Saturday's protests – preparing them for the intense weekend ahead.
'If you show up on site, and you feel completely overwhelmed by the numbers – first of all, congratulations,' one organizer said.
The leaders offered advice for the hosts and those serving as 'marshals' for the events, people specially designated to help address safety concerns and keep the peace on Saturday.
Attendees role-played scenarios with hypothetical characters – a participant frustrated that not enough action is being taken to get out the group's message, a right-wing protestor there to harass attendees – emphasizing safety and non-violence.
They offered some basic tips for Saturday: deescalate, empathize, listen, never touch a cop.
With the political temperature rising in response to immigration sweeps and the use of the National Guard to reign in demonstrations, many of the nation's cities are already seeing protest activity ahead of Saturday.
Meanwhile, local and state authorities have been doing their own prep work.
Multiple local officials are warning that violence by protest participants this weekend will not be tolerated.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, who characterized the expected protesters as 'radical anti-American groups,' warned that those who attack law enforcement or destroy property will be prosecuted.
Other leaders have been more welcoming to protests. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a Democrat, has said his city will protect people's right to assemble, while ensuring residents' day-to-day lives aren't disrupted.
'The right to protest peacefully is central to our democracy, and the NYPD is committed to ensuring that people can always exercise that right safely,' New York City's Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said on X this week, as people in the city took to the streets to protest the Trump administration's immigration action.
Protest organizers say they have been in touch with local officials ahead of Saturday's events, in an effort to make sure the gatherings run safely and smoothly. The aim, they emphasize, is not violence, but rather to send a clear message to the president on his birthday: 'In America, we don't do kings.'
CNN's Dianne Gallagher contributed to this report.