Protesters rally against the Trump administration at ‘No Kings’ events

Protesters rally against the Trump administration at ‘No Kings’ events across the country
https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-ne...-news-10-18-25
By Rebekah Riess, Alaa Elassar, Tori B. Powell, Zoe Sottile, Emma Tucker and Danya Gainor, CNN
Updated 6:37 PM EDT, Sat October 18, 2025


Happening now

• Nationwide protest: Huge crowds are marching in major cities and smaller gatherings have sprung up across the country for “No Kings” protests against President Donald Trump’s administration. CNN is on the ground at several of the more than 2,500 events in all 50 states.

• Why they’re protesting: Demonstrators are voicing outrage at a range of Trump’s policies, but some key themes have taken center stage, including perceived threats to democracy, the administration’s ICE raids and troop deployments in US cities, and cuts to federal programs, especially health care. Here’s what we’re hearing from protesters.

• Government at a standstill: The protests come with the backdrop of a federal government shutdown, with GOP lawmakers and the White House locked in a standoff with Democrats over a funding bill.


While cities draw huge crowds, we're also hearing from smaller protests across the country
From CNN's Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter

While news helicopters and TV crews have showed huge crowds at “No Kings” rallies in major US cities, participants in smaller cities and towns have been documenting their own events via social media sites, vividly showing the scale of today’s anti-Trump protests.

Protesters told CNN they gathered along Main Streets, at major intersections, in municipal parks and on highway overpasses, and in many cases they were struck by the size of the turnout.

In Charlottesville, Virginia, Ann Huebner said the crowd looked twice as big as the first local “No Kings” gathering in June.

“Tons of people,” she said. “And chipmunks, unicorns, dinosaurs and aliens,” she added, making a winking reference to the prevalence of costumes at the protests.

In Swansea, Massachusetts, Dennis O’Brien and Anne Clark said they’d protested at the same intersection several times, and today was the largest by far, but “just as friendly, family oriented and joyous!”

In Ashland, Oregon, Joel Lesko said the day was about “joyfully celebrating our love for America, for free speech, for the importance of community and using our voices for diversity and inclusion and democracy.”


1 hr 58 min ago
While cities draw huge crowds, we're also hearing from smaller protests across the country
From CNN's Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter
Protesters participate in a "No Kings" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday.

While news helicopters and TV crews have showed huge crowds at “No Kings” rallies in major US cities, participants in smaller cities and towns have been documenting their own events via social media sites, vividly showing the scale of today’s anti-Trump protests.

Protesters told CNN they gathered along Main Streets, at major intersections, in municipal parks and on highway overpasses, and in many cases they were struck by the size of the turnout.

In Charlottesville, Virginia, Ann Huebner said the crowd looked twice as big as the first local “No Kings” gathering in June.

“Tons of people,” she said. “And chipmunks, unicorns, dinosaurs and aliens,” she added, making a winking reference to the prevalence of costumes at the protests.

In Swansea, Massachusetts, Dennis O’Brien and Anne Clark said they’d protested at the same intersection several times, and today was the largest by far, but “just as friendly, family oriented and joyous!”

In Ashland, Oregon, Joel Lesko said the day was about “joyfully celebrating our love for America, for free speech, for the importance of community and using our voices for diversity and inclusion and democracy.”

Protesters participate in a "No Kings" rally in Ashland, Oregon, on Saturday.
Joel Lesko

Local news reports showed Revolutionary War reenactors in Jefferson City, Missouri; musical performers in Gainesville, Florida; and free copies of the Constitution inside a box labeled “ICE melter kits” in Charleston, West Virginia. And American flags everywhere.


Here's what we've heard from protesters across the country today
From CNN's Tori B. Powell and Matt Meyer

CNN is on the ground at several of the “No Kings” demonstrations that are being held across all 50 states today in opposition to President Donald Trump.

The protests have been a venue for all-encompassing outrage at the Trump administration. But gauging unofficially by the chants, signs and our conversations with attendees, some key themes stand out above the rest.

Many protesters have focused on Trump’s immigration raids and deployment of troops to US cities, perceived threats to democracy, opposition to billionaires, and cuts to federal programs — particularly health care.

Here’s why some attendees told CNN they joined the protests:

Atlanta: Joan Press, an attendee in her 50s who came to the rally with her husband, told CNN she was driven to attend by what she described at Trump’s threats to abortion rights, health care access and social security. “We are not going to be silenced,” she told CNN.

Chicago: Danielle Guinto, a mother of two, cited the war in Gaza, health care policy, immigration raids and tax cuts for billionaires among the reasons she was attending the demonstration. She said she wanted to tell her kids she was “part of this side of history.” Actor John Cusack also spoke to CNN, saying he was there to fight for labor rights and to resist Trump’s deployment of troops to US cities.

New York City: One New York attendee told CNN she’s been protesting since the 1960s and that now, “our entire democracy is being threatened” under Trump. Other attendees noted the strong presence of women in the crowd at the NYC protests. “There’s a very feminine energy,” a protester told CNN.

Washington, DC: Lee Ayres, who dressed in Revolutionary War-era clothing and a wig, told CNN that they “want all of America to realize the Declaration of Independence is about no kings.” Bobbie Castillo traveled miles from her hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska, to attend the demonstration — her first ever protest. Her fiancé, Michael Langfeldt, told CNN they are protesting the “hatred” shown toward immigrants and the administration’s deployment of the military to US cities.

The White House’s (brief) response: Reached by CNN for comment on today’s protests, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson wrote back: “Who cares?”

CNN’s Rafael Romo, Shimon Prokupecz, Brian Todd, Dugald McConnell, Julian Silva-Forbes, Veronica Stracqualursi and Betsy Klein contributed reporting.

This is great. America has no room for dictators or authoritarianism.

This makes me question, though: Where were all these people in November when it mattered? Where was all the outrage that a rapist and convicted felon was running for president again?
The American general public is so stupid.

All immigrants would have had much better lives under Harris than what we have now with Dementia Don.

Fuck Republicans. Fuck ICE.

The republican narrative has been that they are elderly out of touch people and they are all getting paid to protest. If that were the case why come republicans cant figure out how to get the free money and stay home? The narrative collapses after first contact with reality.