Rabat – Millions of Americans are expected to take to the streets today in an unprecedented mobilization against Trump’s authoritarian policies and the deepening militarization of United States democracy.
Under the banner “No Kings”, an estimated 2,000 protests are set to erupt across the US, all aimed at rejecting Trump’s blatant disregard for the rule of law and his repeated circumvention of constitutional limits.
The protests are timed to directly challenge Trump’s grandiose military parade in Washington DC, ostensibly celebrating the 250th anniversary of the US Army, but also conveniently staged as Trump’s 79th birthday party.
Set to roll down Constitution Avenue, the parade will feature 6,000 troops, 28 Abrams tanks, 128 military vehicles, and 49 aircraft — an ostentatious display of military hardware with a tax-payer price tag estimated between $25 million and $45 million.
While the Pentagon insists the parade is a celebration of military history, protest organizers see it as a self-congratulatory vanity show by a man obsessed with spectacle and power.
United under the slogan, “In America, we don’t do kings,” organizers of the “No Kings” protests said their goal is to draw “a clear contrast between our people-powered movement and the costly, wasteful, and un-American birthday parade in Washington.”
“I don’t feel like a king, I have to go through hell to get stuff approved,” Trump said as a tongue-in-cheek response to the initiative during a White House news briefing, drawing eager laughter from his allies.
The demonstrations follow days of escalating protest activity in cities across the country, but most visibly in Los Angeles, where 200 No Kings protests are expected to take place.
In this sanctuary state, outrage erupted over aggressive immigration raids carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), often without warrants and even targeting immigrants who had followed legal pathways.
What began as peaceful calls for justice quickly escalated after Trump unilaterally deployed thousands of National Guard troops to California — an action taken without the consent of Governor Gavin Newsom– adding fuel to growing concerns over Trump’s disregard for legal and constitutional norms.
“By the way, for those people that want to protest, they’re going to be met with very big force. And I haven’t even heard about a protest, but you know, this is people that hate our country,” Trump said Tuesday, in a characteristic display deflecting responsibility.
Militarized vanity
Rather than learning from the cost of past crackdowns, Republican officials are again doubling down on repression. Several GOP leaders have preemptively threatened demonstrators with criminal charges, while ramping up security measures to an extreme degree.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced Thursday that more than 5,000 National Guard troops and 2,000 state troopers would be deployed to confront anti-ICE protesters, especially in the border state’s hotspots. He had already dispatched Guard units to San Antonio in response to local demonstrations.
In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis warned: “The minute you cross into attacking law enforcement, any type of rioting, any type of vandalism, looting — just be prepared to have the law come down on you.”
Meanwhile, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson posted a video on X issuing an ominous warning to what he views as “extremist left-leaning groups,” saying: “If you attack our officers, destroy property, or threaten innocent lives in South Carolina – you will be arrested, charged, and prosecuted. No excuses. No second chances.”
The event — previously scrapped during Trump’s first term due to high costs — is now being revived amid soaring living expenses and the loss of hundreds of federal jobs attributed to the administration’s budget cuts. As Americans wave flags, the world teeters on the edge of a third world war, engulfed in genocide and bearing the lasting fallout of Western imperialism.
