Millions expected at ‘No Kings’ protests before Trump’s military parade – live updates
Millions expected to rally against Trump before president’s military parade
Millions of people are expected to turn out for US-wide protests as part of a “No Kings” event on Saturday – the same day Donald Trump will attend a military parade to honor the 250th anniversary of the US army that coincides with his 79th birthday.
The rallies follow a week of protests against anti-immigration raids in Los Angeles, with largely peaceful demonstrations spreading to cities including New York, Chicago, San Antonio and Atlanta. Anger at Trump’s deployment of the national guard and marines against the wishes of California officials is likely to swell numbers at today’s protests.
Meanwhile, the military parade is set to start at 6.30pm ET and is expected to feature thousands of soldiers parading through Washington DC, as well as hundreds of vehicles – including tanks and rocket launchers – dozens of aircraft – including Apache helicopters – plus 34 horses, two mules and one dog.
The event has grown extensively in scope and size since US army planners started working on a festival two years ago to mark the day. According to the AP, it will include concerts, fireworks, NFL players, fitness competitions and displays all over the National Mall. The US army expects as many as 200,000 people could attend. The event will cost an estimated $25m to $45m.
A survey earlier this week found six in 10 US adults said the parade was “not a good use” of government money, including the vast majority of people, 78%, who neither approve nor disapprove of the parade overall, according to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Join us as we bring you the latest news and developments from protests across the US and the parade.
Key events
The rallies and the parade are happening against the backdrop of a week when Donald Trump’s handling of LA protests was repeatedly highlighted as a sign of the United States’ potential slide into authoritarianism.
California filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration challenging the federal deployment of the national guard over Newsom’s objections. Meanwhile, Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, earlier threatened to arrest Newsom and the Los Angeles mayor, Karen Bass, a move the governor said was “an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism”.
California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, warned that Trump was increasingly behaving like a “dictator” and that “democracy is under assault”.
Bass also said her city was being used as a proving ground for how the federal government might exert its authority over other local governments that resist the president’s agenda. “I feel like we are part of an experiment that we did not ask to be a part of,” she said, speaking at a press conference in downtown Los Angeles on Monday.
And armed services veterans warned the deployment of national guard troops in the face of opposition from California’s leaders risked the politicisation of the US military.
My colleague David Smith looked at what to expect from Trump’s military parade in Washington DC.
He writes:
While the army has said it has no plans to recognize Trump’s birthday, the president will play a major role in a made-for-TV extravaganza that will reportedly feature rocket launchers and missiles.
The show of military might comes just a week after Trump activated thousands of national guard troops and marines to quell protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles. Opponents draw a direct line from that crackdown to Saturday’s authoritarian display of dominance.
“He’s adopted not only the signifiers of dictator chic but the actual articles of its faith,” said Rick Wilson, a political strategist and cofounder of the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump group. “North Korea: military parades. China: military parades. Russia: military parades.
Read his full piece to find out more about Trump’s “dictator chic” military parade:
On Tuesday, Donald Trump warned people against protesting at the military parade in Washington to celebrate the US army’s 250th anniversary.
“For those people that want to protest, they’re going to be met with very heavy force,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “I haven’t even heard about a protest, but you know, this is people that hate our country, but they will be met with very heavy force.”
Trump’s comments came as he was criticized for a heavy-handed response to anti-Ice protests in Los Angeles. California sued the Trump administration over its deployment of national guard troops against the wishes of the state’s leadership. California’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, said on Monday that the state’s sovereignty was “trampled”.
California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, accused Trump of using troops as political pawns and LA’s mayor, Karen Bass, accused the federal government of using her city as a “test case” for the federal government taking over from local and states authorities and said the intervention was completely unwarranted.
There were no No Kings protests planned for Washington DC.
Trump: parade is ‘rain or shine’ amid evening storms projected in Washington
President Donald Trump said on his Truth Social platform that Saturday’s military parade would go ahead come “rain or shine”.
Trump wrote:
OUR GREAT MILITARY PARADE IS ON, RAIN OR SHINE. REMEMBER, A RAINY DAY PARADE BRINGS GOOD LUCK. I’LL SEE YOU ALL IN D.C.
Earlier, after sharing a picture of army personnel with the message ‘happy 250th birthday army”, he posted:
This is a big day for America!!! DJT
Then he followed it up with “happy flag day”.
The Associated Press (AP) has a useful explainer on why the No Kings protests have been named so:
Why is it called No Kings?
The No Kings theme was orchestrated by the 50501 movement, to support democracy and against what they call the authoritarian actions of the Trump administration. The name 50501 stands for 50 states, 50 protests, one movement.
Protests earlier this year have denounced Trump and billionaire adviser Elon Musk. Protesters have called for Trump to be “dethroned” as they compare his actions to that of a king and not a democratically elected president.
Saturday’s protests in Los Angeles could be “unprecedented” in size, the Los Angeles police chief has said, according to the New York Times.
The publication reports that rallies are expected in all 50 states on Saturday, although these will vary in size.
Thousands join No Kings rally in Atlanta
The Associated Press has a report from Atlanta, where thousands of people have joined a No Kings rally:
It’s a festive atmosphere in the shadow of the Georgia state Capitol, where the American Civil Liberties Union is handing out blue wristbands to keep count of the crowd in Liberty Plaza, which can hold up to 5,000 people.
Many of the No Kings demonstrators are carrying American flags. It’s a diverse crowd, mostly people in their 50s or older, and some families with children.
One woman is carrying a sign saying “when cruelty becomes normal, compassion looks radical.” Taylar W – she didn’t want her full last name used – said “there’s just so much going on in this country that’s not OK, and if no one speaks up about it, who will?”
David Smith
The army’s 250th anniversary was originally conceived as a modest affair: a year ago it filed a permit request for an event on the National Mall featuring 300 people, a concert by the army band and the firing of four cannon. Donald Trump’s election, however, led to a radical change of plan.
About 6,700 troops, 150 vehicles and 50 aircraft will be in Washington for a grand celebration. The vehicles have been moved to the city on trains and bigger trucks, while the helicopters will fly in.
There will be a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday morning followed by a fitness competition and an army birthday festival on the National Mall, including equipment displays and military demonstrations.
The day will culminate with a parade through the city.
Protesters are gathering across the US for today’s No Kings demonstrations. See above for our live feed (you may need to refresh the page).
David Smith
It will be a parade fit for a king – which is precisely why critics worry what message it will send the rest of the world about the future of democracy in America.
On Saturday there will be tanks on the streets of the nation’s capital as Washington hosts a celebration of the US army’s 250th anniversary, which happens to coincide with Donald Trump’s 79th birthday.
While the army has said it has no plans to recognize Trump’s birthday, the president will play a major role in a made-for-TV extravaganza that will reportedly feature rocket launchers and missiles.
The show of military might comes just a week after Trump activated thousands of national guard troops and marines to quell protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles. Opponents draw a direct line from that crackdown to Saturday’s authoritarian display of dominance.
“He’s adopted not only the signifiers of dictator chic but the actual articles of its faith,” said Rick Wilson, a political strategist and co-founder of the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump group.
North Korea: military parades. China: military parades. Russia: military parades.
These aren’t parades to celebrate a victory and it’s certainly not to celebrate the United States army’s birthday. This is a parade to aggrandise Donald Trump’s ego. No one who knows either Trump or his pattern of behavior would think for a minute this is anything else.
More than 6,000 troops are poised to march near the National Mall to honor the army’s 250th anniversary on Saturday, which happens to be President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday.
Daylong festivities celebrating the army are planned on the National Mall – featuring NFL players, fitness competitions and displays – culminating in the parade, which is estimated to cost $25m to $45m.
The army expects as many as 200,000 people to attend.
A special reviewing area is being set up so that the president can watch up close as each formation passes the White House.
A flagship No Kings march and rally are planned in Philadelphia, but no events are scheduled to take place in Washington DC, reports the Associated Press.
The demonstrations come on the heels of protests flaring up around the country over federal immigration enforcement raids that began last week and Donald Trump ordering national guard troops and marines to Los Angeles where protesters blocked a freeway and set cars on fire.
Police responded with teargas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades while officials enforced curfews in Los Angeles and Democratic governors called Trump’s guard deployment “an alarming abuse of power” that “shows the Trump administration does not trust local law enforcement”.
George Chidi
The White House’s escalating response to street protests echoes talk before Donald Trump’s inauguration of forcibly quelling resistance in urban America. Those plans are now the present.
After the use of federalized national guard units and marines in response to protests in Los Angeles, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) plans to deploy Swat-style special response teams to Seattle, Philadelphia, northern Virginia, New York and Chicago – cities led by Democrats that have long been the target of Trump’s invective – before expected protests this weekend, according to reports by NBC and others.
The militarization on the streets and in immigration raids dramatically marks the places the administration wants to punish dissent.
More now on those reports regarding the weather’s potential effect on today’s proceedings in Washington DC, which we touched on in our post at 07.46 ET.
Ahead of the parade, which coincides with Donald Trump’s 79th birthday, there were reports that the event had even been put in doubt by a thunderstorm warning, according to the Times of London.
Steve Warren, chief spokesman of the US army, which is celebrating its 250th anniversary, told the Times:
Rain won’t stop us, the tanks don’t melt, but if there’s lightning then that puts the crowd at risk … they will disperse the crowd and even cancel or postpone the parade. It will depend on the president, too, when he’s available.
Robert Tait
To Donald Trump, the inspiration for today’s military parade is the pomp and pageantry of Bastille Day, France’s annual celebration of the 1789 revolution.
For his critics, it is redolent of the authoritarian militarism proudly projected by autocracies like Russia, China and North Korea.
Despite its military prowess and undoubted superpowers status, overt military displays in civilian settings are the exception rather than the rule in US history.
But in bringing to the streets of Washington DC on Saturday the military parade Trump has long hankered after he – consciously or otherwise – is tapping into a tradition that harks back to antiquity.
The first known instances of victorious exhibitions of military might date back to ancient Mesopotamia, whose territory now comprises modern-day Iraq and parts of Turkey, Syria and Iran.
Mesopotamian emperors decorated their palaces and citadels with friezes portraying heroic conquests. Portraits would display a massive potentate striding ahead of his troops and crushing on his opponents’ skulls.
Iran warns US against helping stop Iranian strikes on Israel
Away from today’s protests and there’ll be one eye on events in the Middle East as Israel and Iran continue to exchange fire following Israel’s attack on Friday.
Explosions have been reported in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Tehran today and Iran has warned the United States, United Kingdom and France that their bases and ships in the region will be targeted if they help stop Tehran’s strikes on Israel, Iran state media reported on Saturday.
The US has said it was not involved in the attack on Iran, describing the Israeli action as unilateral, and it warned Iran and its allies not to target US interests or personnel in the region.
Follow the latest from our live coverage of the Israel Iran conflict via the link below
The weather is being closely monitored and taken into consideration ahead of today’s planned parade, but at this point nothing has changed, the Pentagon said yesterday.
The statement came in response to weather forecasts which appeared, on Friday at least, to show heavy rain and even thunderstorms heading for Washington DC.
Republican governors back Trump use of force and troops against protesters
Rachel Leingang
This week, Trump has deployed national guard and US marine troops to Los Angeles to crack down on protesters who have demonstrated against his ramped-up deportations, defying state and local authorities in a show of military force that hasn’t been seen in the US since the civil rights era.
Texas governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, deployed his state’s national guard to manage protests ahead of No Kings and amid ongoing demonstrations against Trump’s immigration agenda.
In Florida, Republican governor Ron DeSantis said people could legally run over protesters with their cars if they were surrounded.
He added: “You don’t have to sit there and just be a sitting duck and let the mob grab you out of your car and drag you through the streets.
“You have a right to defend yourself in Florida.”
Millions expected to rally against Trump before president’s military parade
Millions of people are expected to turn out for US-wide protests as part of a “No Kings” event on Saturday – the same day Donald Trump will attend a military parade to honor the 250th anniversary of the US army that coincides with his 79th birthday.
The rallies follow a week of protests against anti-immigration raids in Los Angeles, with largely peaceful demonstrations spreading to cities including New York, Chicago, San Antonio and Atlanta. Anger at Trump’s deployment of the national guard and marines against the wishes of California officials is likely to swell numbers at today’s protests.
Meanwhile, the military parade is set to start at 6.30pm ET and is expected to feature thousands of soldiers parading through Washington DC, as well as hundreds of vehicles – including tanks and rocket launchers – dozens of aircraft – including Apache helicopters – plus 34 horses, two mules and one dog.
The event has grown extensively in scope and size since US army planners started working on a festival two years ago to mark the day. According to the AP, it will include concerts, fireworks, NFL players, fitness competitions and displays all over the National Mall. The US army expects as many as 200,000 people could attend. The event will cost an estimated $25m to $45m.
A survey earlier this week found six in 10 US adults said the parade was “not a good use” of government money, including the vast majority of people, 78%, who neither approve nor disapprove of the parade overall, according to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Join us as we bring you the latest news and developments from protests across the US and the parade.
