Last Saturday, October 18, 2025, the second major ‘No Kings’ nationwide protest was held, this time even bigger than before. 7 million people, across over 2,700 cities and towns, and in all 50 states, came together to fight for a deeply historical principle for the United States: a land ruled by the people for the people.
The role of the President of the United States, as intended by the founding fathers, is to take charge of the executive branch, one of three branches all designed to check each other’s power. However, some of the current President Donald Trump’s actions have made him out to be more like a king than a President.
For example, President Trump has reportedly expanded executive authority beyond its traditional limits by issuing sweeping orders that bypass Congress and firing or otherwise silencing key members of the government who voice their opposition. Additionally, Trump’s recent decisions in employing armed forces in cities nationwide without consulting local authorities hint at a breakdown of collaboration and checks and balances, vital attributes to the non-monarchal structure of the American government.
The goal of the ‘No Kings’ Movement is to call attention to these shortcomings and the nation’s refusal to accept them. The movement itself is a collaboration of over 200 organizations, such as 50501 and Indivisible, all uniting under a common goal of protecting the foundational values of the United States.
Last week’s protest turnout was wildly successful, as aforementioned. In fact, it reached historical size, earning the informal title of the largest single-day demonstration in the nation’s history. Student Sophie Smith reacted to learning of this by stating, “I was very surprised. Our country has such an extensive history of protest; I did not know that ‘No Kings’ could even come close compared to some of those”. Beyond just the 50 states, the ‘No Kings’ protest rallied support across the globe, with US territories and unaffiliated nations, such as France and the UK, having demonstrations of their own.
Despite the scope of the success of the ‘No Kings’ movement, there has also been no lack of critique. President Trump himself showed his own disapproval by posting an AI video of himself pouring what appears to be human feces out of a plane on his own citizens practicing their rights at these protests. To many, this reaction furthered their concerns. Additionally, Americans in support of the President are making the argument that if we did have a king, it would not be possible to have protests. Tothiss junior Ashley Sinkus offered: “ The whole point of these protests is not that we have a king currently, it’s that people are trying to get our country off the path of having a king-like leader in the future”.
So, what’s next for ‘No Kings’? Co-Founder of ‘No Kings’ affiliate group Indivisible says a third day of protests is already in the works.
Regardless of how you support the movement, it is undeniable that ‘No Kings’ has taken our nation by storm. Will it continue to grow?
