MINNEAPOLIS: Mass nationwide protests are expected Saturday against US President Donald Trump as millions express their anger over his authoritarian approach and other forms of brutal, law-abiding rule.It is the third time in less than a year that Americans will take to the streets as part of a grassroots movement called “No Kings,” the most vocal and visible means of protesting Trump since he began his second term in January 2025.And now they have something new to stoke – the war in Iran that Trump started with Israel, with constantly changing goals and timelines for completion.The first such nationwide protest day came in June, on Trump’s 79th birthday and coincided with a military parade in Washington that he had insisted on holding.Several million people gathered from New York to San Francisco and many places in between.According to organizers, an estimated seven million protesters participated in the second “No Kings” day in October.Now the goal is to bring out even more people Saturday, as Trump’s approval ratings hover around 40 percent and the midterm elections loom in November, when Trump’s Republicans could lose control of both houses. Just as Trump is worshiped by many in his “Make America Great Again” movement, on the other side of America’s wide political divide he is disliked or even hated with equal passion.Trump’s enemies bemoan his tendency to rule by executive decree, his use of the Justice Department to prosecute opponents, his denial of fossil fuels and climate change even as the planet warms, his fight against racial and gender diversity programs, and his new taste for increasing US military power after campaigning as a man of peace.“Since the last time we marched, this administration has pulled us deeper into the war,” said Naveed Shah of Common Defense, a veterans union associated with the “No Kings” movement.“At home, we have seen civilians killed by military forces in the streets. We have seen families torn apart and immigrant communities targeted. All this in the name of a man trying to rule like a king,” Shah said.Springsteen in MinneapolisOrganizers say more than 3,000 rallies are planned, more than the previous protest day, in major cities from coast to coast and in suburbs and rural areas — even in the Alaskan city of Kotzebue, above the Arctic Circle.Minnesota will be a major focal point, returning to the spotlight months after becoming ground zero for the national debate over Trump’s violent immigration crackdown.Famous rocker Bruce Springsteen, a staunch critic of the president, is scheduled to perform his song “Streets of Minneapolis” in St. Paul, the northern state capital. It’s a song he wrote and recorded in the space of 24 hours in memory of Renee Good and Alex Pretty, Americans shot and killed by federal agents during cold-weather protests in January against Trump’s immigration offensive.The “No Kings” movement said, “Masked secret police are terrorizing our communities. An illegal, destructive war is endangering us and increasing our costs. Attacks on our freedom of speech, our civil rights, our freedom to vote. The costs are pushing families to the brink. Trump wants to rule us as a dictator.”It says what started as a simple day of defiance in 2025 has turned into a powerful movement of national resistance against the Trump administration.Organizers say two-thirds of people planning to rally Saturday do not live in big cities, which are often Democratic strongholds in the US — a data point that has risen sharply since the last protest.“America is at a turning point,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. “People are scared, and they can’t afford basic necessities. It’s time the administration listened to them and helped them build better lives instead of creating hatred and fear.”
