President Donald Trump’s estimated $143 million birthday and military parade, which will roll through downtown Washington, D.C., on Saturday and is billed as a tribute to America’s military and a national celebration of Trump, has sparked outrage across the country — and an unprecedented response.
The 34-time convicted felon told reporters in the Oval Office that they’ll be “celebrating big on Saturday.” He added that if any protesters show up, “they will be met with very big force. I haven’t even heard about a protest, but you know, this is people that hate our country, but they will be met with very heavy force.”
The menacing tone and threats come as tens of thousands are preparing to take part in more than 2,000 “No Kings Day” protests planned in cities across the nation. Organized by Indivisible and a coalition of progressive groups, the demonstrations are meant to rebuke Trump’s authoritarian behavior and remind the public that, as the event’s tagline puts it, “In America, we don’t do kings.”
“They’ve defied our courts, deported Americans, disappeared people off the streets, attacked our civil rights, and slashed our services,” reads the protest website. “The corruption has gone too far.”
While the president dismissed demonstrators protesting his immigration raids in Los Angeles as “paid insurrectionists,” critics note the bitter irony: Trump pardoned hundreds of actual insurrectionists who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, seeking to hang the vice president, kill members of Congress, and overturn a lawful election.
That violent attack led to multiple deaths, including those of law enforcement officers.
Ezra Levin, co-founder and co-executive director of Indivisible, told MSNBC that the “No Kings Day” actions — announced before the parade was confirmed — have received “overwhelming interest,” especially after Trump’s violent crackdown on protestors in Los Angeles.
Organizers made a strategic decision not to hold a mass protest in D.C. itself, saying they didn’t want Trump’s militarized spectacle to become the day’s center of gravity.
Instead, protests around the country will feature civil rights-era songs, grassroots speeches, and symbolic displays of unity.
Among the most striking acts of defiance planned: thousands of African Americans and allies say they will prominently display photos of former President Barack Obama during the protests, a deliberate counter to the man who spent years trying to delegitimize Obama’s presidency and erase his legacy.
Author and activist Anne Lamott noted, “We the people make the best placards — my favorites from the ‘Hands Off’ march were ‘Honk if you never drunk-texted war plans’ and ‘Now you’ve pissed off the grandmothers.’”
Organizers say the protests are more than symbolic — they are a declaration that the public will not sit quietly in the face of tyranny, repression, and staged propaganda parades funded by taxpayer dollars.
“In America, we don’t do kings,” Levin said. “We do democracy.”
