Anti-Trump protesters out in force for ‘No Kings’ rallies across US

Protesting against the direction of the country under Donald Trump, crowds gathered on Saturday in the nation’s capital and communities big and small across the US for “No Kings ” demonstrations that the US president’s Republican Party disparaged as “Hate America” rallies.

With signs on display 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 US Constitution’s “We The People” preamble that people could sign, and demonstrators wearing inflatable costumes, particularly frogs, which have emerged as a sign of resistance in Portland, Oregon.

It was the third mass mobilisation since Trump’s return to the White House and came against the backdrop of a government shutdown that not only has closed federal programmes and services but is testing the core balance of power, as an aggressive executive confronts Congress and the courts in ways that protest organisers warn are a slide towards authoritarianism.

Trump himself was 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 that aired early Friday, before he departed for a US$1 million-per-plate Maga Inc fundraiser at his club.