NPR | Sunday, October 19, 2025 
3 takeaways from Saturday’s No Kings nationwide protests

One of the biggest days of protest against the Trump administration’s policies happened on Saturday in cities around the U.S. The overriding theme of the marches was the accusation that President Trump is behaving more like a monarch than an elected official. It marked the second massive wave of protests organized by No Kings — a network of progressive organizations fighting against Trump’s agenda. Organizers said about 2,600 No Kings events were planned across nearly every state, and that it projected a bigger turnout than the 5 million it said attended its previous nationwide action in June. Energized by a slew of actions taken by the administration since the summer protests, the group cited widespread immigration detentions carried out by often-masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the administration’s aggressive slashing of federal education resources and environmental protections, gerrymandering and other concerns. 1. United in protests to ‘protect America’ – Protesters showed up to oppose a wide range of issues, including the administration’s immigration tactics and its push for federal and military intervention in Democratic-led states as a way to tackle crime. The diversity of concerns was strung together by the broader messaging of democracy, constitutional rights and the freedom the U.S. was founded on. In Washington, D.C., demonstrators filled Pennsylvania Avenue near the U.S. Capitol, many holding signs that read “No Kings, No Tyrants.” Many people wore yellow, a color organizers said is…Read more