On his 79th birthday, President Trump is getting a military parade – and millions of expected protestors
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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
7 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
What will happen to food assistance under Trump's tax cut plan? A look at the numbers
President Trump's plan to cut taxes by trillions of dollars could also trim billions in spending from social safety net programs, including food assistance for lower-income people. The proposed changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program would make states pick up more of the costs, require several million more recipients to work or lose their benefits, and potentially reduce the amount of food aid people receive in the future. The legislation, which narrowly passed the U.S. House, could undergo further changes in the Senate, where it's currently being debated. Trump wants lawmakers to send the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' to his desk by July 4, when the nation marks the 249th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Here's a look at the food assistance program, by the numbers: The federal aid program formerly known as food stamps was renamed the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, on Oct. 1, 2008. The program provides monthly payments for food purchases to low-income residents generally earning less than $1,632 monthly for individuals, or $3,380 monthly for a household of four. The nation's first experiment with food stamps began in 1939. But the modern version of the program dates to 1979, when a change in federal law eliminated a requirement that participants purchase food stamps. There currently is no cost to people participating in the program. A little over 42 million people nationwide received SNAP benefits in February, the latest month for which figures are available. That's roughly one out of every eight people in the country. Participation is down from a peak average of 47.6 million people during the 2013 federal fiscal year. Often, more than one person in a household is eligible for food aid. As of February, nearly 22.5 million households were enrolled in SNAP, receiving an average monthly household benefit of $353. The money can be spent on most groceries, but the Trump administration recently approved requests by six states — Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska and Utah — to exclude certain items, such as soda or candy. Legislation passed by the House is projected to cut about $295 billion in federal spending from SNAP over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. A little more than half of those federal savings would come from shifting costs to states, which administer SNAP. Nearly one-third of those savings would come from expanding a work requirement for some SNAP participants, which the CBO assumes would force some people off the rolls. Additional money would be saved by eliminating SNAP benefits for between 120,000 and 250,000 immigrants legally in the U.S. who are not citizens or lawful permanent residents. Another provision in the legislation would cap the annual inflationary growth in food benefits. As a result, the CBO estimates that the average monthly food benefit would be about $15 lower than it otherwise would have been by 2034. To receive SNAP benefits, current law says adults ages 18 through 54 who are physically and mentally able and don't have dependents need to work, volunteer or participate in training programs for at least 80 hours a month. Those who don't do so are limited to just three months of benefits in a three-year period. The legislation that passed the House would expand work requirements to those ages 55 through 64. It also would extend work requirements to some parents without children younger than age 7. And it would limit the ability of states to waive work requirements in areas that lack sufficient jobs. The combined effect of those changes is projected by the CBO to reduce SNAP participation by a monthly average of 3.2 million people. The federal government currently splits the administrative costs of SNAP with states but covers the full cost of food benefits. Under the legislation, states would have to cover three-fourths of the administrative costs. States also would have to pay a portion of the food benefits starting with the 2028 fiscal year. All states would be required to pay at least 5% of the food aid benefits, and could pay more depending on how often they make mistakes with people's payments. States that had payment error rates between 6-8% in the most recent federal fiscal year for which data is available would have to cover 15% of the food costs. States with error rates between 8-10% would have to cover 20% of the food benefits, and those with error rates greater than 10% would have to cover 25% of the food costs. Many states could get hit with higher costs. The national error rate stood at 11.7% in the 2023 fiscal year, and just three states — Idaho, South Dakota and Vermont — had error rates below 5%. But the 2023 figures are unlikely to serve as the base year, so the exact costs to states remains unclear. As a result of the cost shift, the CBO assumes that some states would reduce or eliminate benefits for people. The House resolution containing the SNAP changes and tax cuts passed last month by a margin of just one vote — 215-214. A vote also could be close in the Senate, where Republicans hold 53 of the 100 seats. Democrats did not support the bill in the House and are unlikely to do so in the Senate. Some Republican senators have expressed reservations about proposed cuts to food assistance and Medicaid and the potential impact of the bill on the federal deficit. GOP Senate leaders may have to make some changes to the bill to ensure enough support to pass it. Lieb writes for the Associated Press.
New York Times
11 minutes ago
- New York Times
Protest Is Underrated
The first thing to know is that it was all basically willed into being — not by 'paid protesters' or the Mexican government or socialists or union leaders, but by Stephen Miller, the architect of President Trump's xenophobic immigration plan and his deputy chief of staff. In a May meeting at ICE headquarters, Miller reportedly demanded that field agents forget about targeting only those undocumented immigrants with criminal records and instead stage purposefully cruel, attention-getting sweeps in places like the parking lot of a Home Depot. That is precisely where, last Friday, those raids began. The second thing to know is that the unrest was really quite limited: a roughly five-block stretch downtown, in a city of nearly four million people spread over almost 500 square miles; several driverless Waymo robot taxis, lined up on one street and set ablaze. There was some more serious violence, too: some journalists were shot with rubber bullets and other less-lethal munitions, a few cop cars were pelted with rocks, and at least one was set on fire, but no serious law-enforcement injuries were reported. But this was not 1965, with widespread arson and 34 deaths, or 1992, with disorder spreading through whole neighborhoods and more than 60 people killed. None of that means that what began last Friday in Los Angeles — a series of spectacular ICE raids, a direct-action response to block them, large-scale peaceful protests punctuated in places by bursts of familiar violence — is insignificant. To the contrary: Hundreds of migrants and protesters have been arrested over the last week, with many of the raids conducted by ICE officers in the now-familiar uniform of masked anonymity. The National Guard was mobilized over the objection of California's governor, Gavin Newsom, and without the support of the Los Angeles Police Department's leadership, with hundreds of Marines on active duty mobilized to join them in a rare deployment of military personnel to a site of domestic unrest. On Tuesday, Trump disparaged Los Angeles as a 'trash heap' in an incendiary speech that was met with horrifying applause from assembled loyalists in the Army, and on Thursday, Senator Alex Padilla was hauled out of a local news conference being held by the secretary of homeland security, Kristi Noem. When the senator was wrestled to the floor, the secretary had just declared 'we are not going away,' but would instead stay in L.A. to 'liberate the city' from 'socialists' and its democratically elected local government. The political scientists I spoke to throughout the week used phrases like 'competitive authoritarianism,' 'acute democratic backsliding' and 'autocratic power grab.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
More Americans support than oppose Trump's Army celebration parade: Poll
As President Donald Trump hosts events on Saturday to celebrate the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary, a new national poll indicates more Americans are likely to approve than disapprove of the president's decision to hold a military parade. But six in 10 Americans are concerned about the cost of the parade, saying it's "not a good use" of government money, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey. Trump, who is marking his 79th birthday on Saturday, is scheduled to give a speech during the parade, which will take place Saturday evening along the National Mall in Washington D.C. Defense officials say roughly 6,600 soldiers will march in the parade, with some 50 military aircraft and 150 vehicles, including tanks, rocket launchers, and missiles. The Army says it's spending $25-$45 million to pay for the parade, which includes fixing D.C. streets damaged by the tanks. Trump Warns Any Protesters At His Military Parade Will Be 'Met With Very Big Force' Trump has defended the cost of the parade, saying last month in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" that it would be "peanuts compared to the value of doing it." Read On The Fox News App "We have the greatest missiles in the world. We have the greatest submarines in the world. We have the greatest army tanks in the world. We have the greatest weapons in the world. And we're going to celebrate it," the president said. Trump To Host Military Parade To Celebrate Army's 250Th Birthday But some in Congress are criticizing the parade, saying the money could be better spent. "If it was really about celebrating military families, we could put $30 million toward helping them offset the cost of their child care, food assistance and tuition," Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a military veteran who lost both of her legs in combat while piloting an Army Black Hawk helicopter during the Iraq War, said in a social media post. "But it isn't. Trump is throwing himself a $30 million birthday parade just to stroke his own ego," Duckworth argued. According to the poll, 40% of adults nationwide approved of the military parade, with 29% disapproving, and three in 10 neither approving nor disapproving. There was an expected partisan divide, with two-thirds of Republicans approving of the president's move to hold the parade, and half of Democrats disapproving. But in a separate question, 60% of those surveyed said holding the parade was not a good use of government funds, with 38% disagreeing. Nearly two-thirds of Republicans said holding the parade was a good use of government funds, while eight in 10 Democrats disagreed. The White House, in a statement, said that the parade "will be a unifying celebration for not only the thousands in attendance, but Americans across the country who can participate in honoring our active-duty servicemembers, Veterans, and fallen heroes." Pro-democracy, progressive, and labor activists are planning protests in all 50 states on Saturday that will coincide with Trump's military parade. Many are part of a series of "No Kings" protests across the country, with more than 1,500 rallies scheduled for this weekend. But organizers decided against holding a major protest in the nation's capital and instead will hold their main event in Philadelphia. The poll, which was conducted June 5-9, also indicates that 39% of those questioned approve of the job Trump's doing in the White House, with six in ten giving the president a thumbs down. The survey had an overall margin of error of plus or minus four percentage article source: More Americans support than oppose Trump's Army celebration parade: Poll
