Huge crowds gather in cities across United States for 'No Kings' protests against Trump

Americans across the United States packed the streets on Saturday to protest the direction of their country under President Donald Trump during nationwide "No Kings" demonstrations.

Demonstrators took to places like New York City's Times Square, the historic Boston Commons, Chicago's Grant Park, Washington, DC and hundreds of smaller public spaces. More than 2,600 rallies were organised throughout the country.

Before noon local time, several thousand people had already gathered in New York City’s Times Square, as well as in Washington. They chanted “Trump must go now,” and waved sometimes-profane signs with slogans insulting the president and condemning his immigration crackdown.

They rallied with signs like “Nothing is more patriotic than protesting” or “Resist Fascism,” and in many places it looked more like a street party. There were marching bands, a huge banner with the US Constitution’s “We The People,” preamble that people could sign, and protesters in frog costumes, which have emerged as a sign of resistance in Portland, Oregon.

It was the third mass mobilisation since Trump's return to the White House and comes against the backdrop of a government shutdown that not only has closed federal programmes and services, but is testing the core balance of power as an aggressive executive confronts Congress and the courts in ways that organisers warn are a slide toward American authoritarianism.

The demonstrations have been labelled by the president's Republican Party as “Hate America” rallies.

Trump himself is away from Washington at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida. Protests are expected nearby on Saturday.

“They say they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” Trump said in a Fox News interview airing early Friday, before he departed for a $1 million-per-plate MAGA Inc. fundraiser at his club.

While the earlier protests this year — against Elon Musk's cuts this spring and Trump’s June military parade — drew crowds, organisers say this one is uniting the opposition.

Top Democrats such as Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and Independent Senator Bernie Sanders are joining in what organisers view as an antidote to Trump's actions, from the administration's clampdown on free speech to its military-style immigration raids.

“There is no greater threat to an authoritarian regime than patriotic people-power,” said Ezra Levin, a co-founder of Indivisible, among the key organisers.

Europeans organise solidarity protests

Hundreds of people gathered in also gathered in several major European cities to attend protests in solidarity with those protesting in the US.

Attended mostly by US citizens living abroad, the rallies coincided with the "No Kings" demonstrations in the United States.

A few hundred people in Madrid chanted slogans and held up signs at the rally organised by Democrats Abroad.

In Helsinki, one protester said "many of my European friends simply will not visit the United States right now because they're concerned about what might happen if they visit," adding "I think that the US has positioned itself very, very poorly on the world stage, and I believe that's because of the Trump administration."

Some of the signs read "No Kings", "No Faux-king way", "No Kings, No Oligarchs, No fascism", "No Kings - except Bad Bunny", and "Trump stop humping Putin's leg like a dog!"

Several hundred people also gathered in central Paris in support of the "No Kings" movement. Similar demonstrations were also held in Berlin, Lisbon and Rome, among others.

Belinda Mullinix, an American expatriate in Paris who came dressed as the Statue of Liberty said she is "Very concerned about people who have been taken away from their families, families torn apart, children being zip tied, this illegal thing about ICE, it's so concerning to me."