Thousands of protesters fill Times Square during a "No Kings" protest Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Olga Fedorova)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Protesting the direction of the country under President Donald Trump, people gathered Saturday in the nation’s capital and communities across the U.S. for “ No Kings ” demonstrations — what the president's Republican Party is calling “Hate America” rallies.

With signs such as “Nothing is more patriotic than protesting” or “Resist Fascism,” in many places the events looked more like a street party. There were marching bands, a huge banner with the U.S. Constitution’s “We The People,” preamble that people could sign, and protesters wearing inflatable costumes, particularly frogs, which have emerged as a sign of resistance in Portland, Oregon.

This is the third mass mobilization since Trump's return to the White House and comes against the backdrop of a government shutdown that not only has closed federal programs and services, but is testing the core balance of power as an aggressive executive confronts Congress and the courts in ways that organizers warn are a slide toward American authoritarianism.

Trump himself is spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.

“They say they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” Trump said in a Fox News interview airing early Friday, before he departed for a $1 million-per-plate MAGA Inc. fundraiser at his club. Protests are expected nearby Saturday.

Nationwide protests planned

Demonstrators packed New York City's Times Square, Boston Common, Chicago's Grant Park and hundreds of smaller public spaces. More than 2,600 rallies were planned for Saturday, organizers said.

Many protesters were angered by attacks on their motives. In Washington, Brian Reymann said being called a terrorist all week by Republicans was “pathetic.”

“This is America. I disagree with their politics, but I don’t believe that they don’t love this country,” Reymann said, carrying a large American flag. “I believe they are misguided. I think they are power hungry.”

More than 1,500 people gathered in Birmingham, Alabama, evoking and openly citing the city’s history of protests and the critical role it played in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement two generations ago.

“It just feels like we’re living in an America that I don’t recognize,” said Jessica Yother, a mother of four. She and other protesters said they felt camaraderie by gathering in a state where Trump won nearly 65% of the vote last November.

“It was so encouraging,” Yother said. “I walked in and thought, ‘Here are my people.’”

Organizers hope to build opposition movement

“Big rallies like this give confidence to people who have been sitting on the sidelines but are ready to speak up,” Democratic U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy said in an interview with The Associated Press.

While protests earlier this year — against Elon Musk's cuts and Trump’s military parade — drew crowds, organizers say this one is uniting the opposition. Top Democrats such as Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders are joining what organizers view as an antidote to Trump's actions, from the administration's clampdown on free speech to its military-style immigration raids.

“We’re here because we love America,” Sanders said, addressing the crowd from a stage in Washington. He said the American experiment is “in danger” under Trump but insisted “We the people will rule.”

The national march against Trump and Musk this spring had 1,300 registered locations, while the first “No Kings” day in June registered 2,100 locations.

Republicans denounce ‘Hate America’ rallies

Republicans sought to portray Saturday's protesters as far outside the mainstream and a prime reason for the government shutdown, now in its 18th day.

From the White House to Capitol Hill, GOP leaders disparaged the rallygoers as “communists” and “Marxists." They say Democratic leaders, including Schumer, are beholden to the far-left flank and willing to keep the government shut to appease those liberal forces.

“I encourage you to watch — we call it the Hate America rally — that will happen Saturday,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana.

“Let’s see who shows up for that," Johnson said, listing groups including “antifa types,” people who “hate capitalism” and “Marxists in full display.”

Many demonstrators, in turn, said they were responding such hyperbole with humor, noting that Trump often leans heavily on theatrics such as claiming U.S. cities he sends troops to are war zones.

“So much of what we’ve seen from this administration has been so unserious and silly that we have to respond with the same energy,” said Glen Kalbaugh, a Washington protester who wore a wizard hat and held a sign with a frog on it.

Democrats try to regain their footing amid shutdown

Democrats have refused to vote on legislation that would reopen the government as they demand funding for health care. Republicans say they are willing to discuss the issue later, only after the government reopens.

The situation is a potential turnaround from just six months ago, when Democrats and their allies were divided and despondent. Schumer in particular was berated by his party for allowing an earlier government funding bill to sail through the Senate without using it to challenge Trump.

“What we are seeing from the Democrats is some spine,” said Ezra Levin, a co-founder of Indivisible, a key organizing group. “The worst thing the Democrats could do right now is surrender.”

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Associated Press journalists Matt Brown, Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking in Washington, Jill Colvin and Joseph Frederick in New York, Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, Chris Megerian in West Palm Beach, Florida, Bill Barrow in Birmingham, Alabama, and Safiya Riddle in Montgomery, Alabama, contributed to this report.

News from © The Associated Press, 2025