Huge crowds joined “No Kings” protests against President Donald Trump’s policies in cities across the U.S. on Saturday.
According to multiple reports, millions of Americans took to the streets to make their voices heard. But the president responded with a disturbing video — and now, everyone’s saying the same thing.
Massive crowds filled the streets of America’s biggest cities this weekend. From New York and Washington D.C. to Miami and Los Angeles, millions protested what they called President Donald Trump’s “authoritarian power grab.”
High-profile Democrats like Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, Adam Schiff, Chuck Schumer, and Raphael Warnock were seen marching alongside demonstrators, calling the protests “a stand for democracy itself.”
The nationwide demonstrations, known as the “No Kings” movement, took place in over 2,500 cities across all 50 states. Marchers carried signs reading “Democracy, Not Monarchy” and “The Constitution Is Not Optional.”
“We have millions of people turning out today,” Colleen Connell, executive director of the Illinois chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, told CNN.
“There are clearly more of us than there are of those who want an autocracy or a dictatorship. And so the message is pretty clear that we, the people, you know, own this country and that we are going to respect the rule of law and we are going to stand up and we are going to protect our democracy with peaceful protest and peaceful dissent.”
But while Americans called for limits on presidential power, Trump’s reaction only fueled more outrage.
Trump’s “king” video shocks the Internet
Rather than addressing protesters directly, Trump took to social media, sharing a bizarre AI-generated video that depicted him flying a fighter jet labeled “KING TRUMP.”
Set to Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone” from Top Gun, the clip showed the president wearing a gold crown as he soared over New York City, before dumping what appeared to be sewage on protesters below.
Vice President JD Vance joined in, posting a separate meme on Bluesky that showed prominent Democrats kneeling before Trump in a royal court.
Online reaction was swift and furious.
“Imagine just one second that any other president ever did something like this…,” one Reddit user wrote.
Another added: “Can’t believe that’s a president of a country.”
A third chimed in: “Every time he does anything, I truly question whether this is real life. He’s supposed to be a grown man.”
Trump doubles down on the “king” narrative
According to Variety, Trump also shared another clip of himself placing a crown on his head while the song “Hail to the King” by Avenged Sevenfold played in the background. Despite the backlash, the president seemed unfazed. Speaking in a Fox News interview preview, he smirked as he addressed the controversy:
“A king! This is not an act. You know — they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king.”
He also dismissed Saturday’s massive demonstrations as nothing more than a “joke,” insisting the turnout was “very small, very ineffective.”
“The people who took part were whacked out,” Trump said, brushing off the nationwide protests.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, he added:
“When you look at those people, those are not representative of the people of our country.”
Republicans call protests “anti-american”
House Speaker Mike Johnson joined in and blasted the rallies, labeling them “Hate America” protests and accusing Democrats of “selling T-shirts for the event.”
“It’s being told to us that they won’t be able to reopen the government until after that rally because they can’t face their rabid base,” Johnson claimed, referencing the ongoing government shutdown.
But the No Kings coalition fired back in a statement shared by Politico:
“Instead of reopening the government, preserving affordable healthcare, or lowering costs for working families, he’s attacking millions of Americans who are peacefully coming together to say that America belongs to its people — not to kings.”
