On March 28 a reported 8 million people came together across the United States in the largest single-day protest in contemporary American history. This was a million more than the No Kings protests in October. This reflects a huge anti-Trump majority and tells us there are the seeds of a people’s movement against him.
There were 3,300 marches or rallies throughout the country. Some major cities saw hundreds of thousands gather. Most of the protests were outside major urban centers, and many in Republican-leaning areas. States including Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, all had ten or more events planned.
Trump deeply unpopular
No Kings happened in the context of Trump’s plummeting popularity. His approval ratings have been in negative numbers for a while and there is a large section of the country who are strongly opposed to the president for a range of reasons. But Trump’s approval has recently gone negative on the issues of immigration and the economy, once his strong suits. Trump’s promises to end inflation on day one have been a catastrophic failure. Instead we face huge cost of living increases especially in food, healthcare, and now gas.
Trump reneged on his promise not to enter into the “forever wars” by attacking Iran, egged on by Netanyahu in Israel who is pursuing objectives of his own. 58% oppose the war in Iran, including nearly 4 in 10 who are strongly opposed. Only 52% of non-MAGA Republicans support the war. Some 64% of voters disapprove of how President Trump is handling Iran, up from 57% disapproval in January. A survey taken at five large anti-Trump demonstrations in Washington DC found most participants still citing immigration (76%) and Trump himself (75%) as their main motivation, but for the first time “Peace / anti-war” feeling was close behind (73%).
Americans are feeling the pain at the pump, but this is just the beginning of the protracted economic fallout to come. Trump is asking for $1.5 trillion military budget for 2027. He is pulling the money from Medicare, Medicaid and child care, because, in his own words, “we have to take care of one thing: military protection.”
Nationwide marches
Compared to demonstrations over ICE or Palestine, No Kings marches are noticeably older, whiter, and less noisy. There were a good number of American flags, but they were less prominent than on previous large anti-Trump marches. While more conservative electoral and patriotic politics come from the top, No Kings’ political vagueness meant debates and movements on the ground shaped the specific politics of each march.
The largest was in New York, where Hands-Off NYC counted 350,000 marching. After much discussion, Hands-Off NYC made “No ICE, No War, No Kings” the main slogans, conveyed on three banners at the front of the march. March participants gladly picked up the chant “No ICE, No war, No wannabe kings – No more billionaires pulling the strings.”
Mayor Mamdani was notably absent. One would think the role of a “socialist” mayor would be to build for a march like this, and use his prominence to talk of how New York’s working class can fight for our interests, in the city and nationally. Instead, he is concentrating on making a deal with the mainstream NY Democratic Governor Hochel, who is opposed to many of the demands on the march.
The flagship rally was in Minnesota, where Bernie Sanders spoke against the ultra-rich and Bruce Springsteen sang his “Streets of Minneapolis” to over 200,000 outside the main capital.
Organizers there report that Indivisible wanted Governor Waltz to speak, he was voted down by others in the coalition, but they invited him anyway and he gave a fiery speech against Trump. Other organizers were livid at the lack of democracy that gave a platform to the Governor who called on State police to clear anti-ICE protesters and refused an eviction moratorium during the ICE siege.
Similarly, in Burlington, Vermont, Indivisible ran the No Kings march in a conservative manner, with a tight grip. They decreed that neither the Iran War or Palestine should be brought up in the rally. However, a feeder march of socialists and union members in the local May Day Strong coalition brought close to half the rally, and got to the platform early with banners on those forbidden issues as well as working class opposition to billionaires.
Small towns helped manifest opposition to Trump. There were 600 new locations in mostly rural and Republican-leaning areas. Florida for example drew protesters in about a hundred towns, including West Palm Beach, near Trump’s own Mar-a-Lago, and in The Villages, the heavily Republican retirement community where this No Kings was twice as big as the last one.
Labor
There were pushes across different marches to involve labor, including not just official endorsements but having union officials speak on united platforms, and in locals organizing contingents of workers. Both Philadelphia and Minneapolis had large labor turn-out.
The AFL/CIO led one of the three feeder marches to the main 200,000 Minneapolis rally, including SEIU, education workers, state professional employees, and IATSE. This built on previous organizing against the ICE surge there, and a February “worker’s assembly.”
In New York City Separate union contingents included the UFT teachers’ union and DC37 municipal workers and staff, as well as the private sector SEIU local 32BJ and LIUNA laborers (both largely people of color and including many immigrants), with other unions present. Even the smaller, independent, Organization of Staff Analysts brought 35 to 40 people and a megaphone, used throughout the march chanting about the economy, ICE, and even Palestine.
Mid-terms
There are elements in the national organizing who see the biggest priority for these marches as bringing out votes explicitly for the Democrats in the upcoming mid-term elections. But electoral solutions won’t solve the crises we face.
The majority of marchers will probably end up voting Democrat when the time comes because the two party system doesn’t offer viable alternatives. But demonstrators carried many more signs about specific issues rather than about voting. The movement should not be reduced to partisan politics. The newest polls confirm “Americans’ views of both the Democratic and Republican parties remain deeply negative,” even lower than in Trump’s first term, with nominal Democrats holding a lower opinion of their own party than Republicans do.
The collapse of universities, law firms, major media, to bullying from the Trump administration has convinced many liberals that the problem is more than one deranged figure. And even threats to voting rights need to be defended in the streets. This is to be welcomed.
But the defense of hard-won rights should not be confused with just a defense of the pre-Trump system, which was already feeding massive inequality, deportations, wars, and environmental destruction.
We will need mass, militant and disruptive actions to defeat authoritarianism, and that activity will only be strengthened if it also leads to fights on the many issues brought to these marches.
Mobilize, organize
Some people on the far left and involved in more under-the-radar neighborhood organizing against ICE have questioned the importance of a large demonstration with more moderate leadership like No Kings. But the two should not be counterposed. The day turned out millions of people new to demonstrations, gave them a feel of collective strength, and they can be brought into more activity and radicalized in the process.
As we wrote last year about the “Hands-Off” demonstrations: “Everyone knew that one march by itself would not change the situation, but there has never been a successful mass movement that did not include mass marches.”
Indivisible co-founder Leah Greenberg, wrote vaguely that after “the massive energy from the No Kings mobilizations, people are ready to take action…” Hands-Off NYC encouraged groups involved there to organize events in the days and weeks after No Kings, which would be “promoted to everyone who attends the march, “in hopes that the marchers will find follow-up actions that interest them, get involved in relevant local groups, and stay engaged.” While this might happen with those who signed up online beforehand, it was harder to reach the enormous crowds who did not, and the march seemed to dissipate at the end without a goal.
All eyes on May Day
The next steps coming out of No Kings will include involving people in defence of immigrants and other local activities, building on the union participation, and — crucially — organizing for May Day.
Union activists, with a big role played by the Chicago teachers union and May Day Strong coalition, have been building towards proposed coordinated strikes on May Day 2028, and are using May Day 2026 actions to build towards this.
Leah Greenberg, is now saying on “May 1, Indivisible will be joining people across the country with a clear message: we demand a government that invests in our communities, not one that enriches billionaires, fuels endless war, or deploys masked agents to intimidate our neighbors.”
50501 posted “we’re joining @maydaystrong for a day of no school, shopping, or work. We are the workers and we out number the ruling class.”
Voices on the left are calling for people to take off work that Friday, in the largest, most organized and visible form possible. Union officials have pushed hard to avoid the word “strike.” The May Day Strong website has repeated the call for “No work, no school, and no shopping”, picked up in Chicago and LA, but Central Labor Councils in many other cities have vetoed even that language. This remains a site of struggle where socialist can play an important role. May Day should not be watered down to another No Kings, but highlight more radical demands and demonstrate working class power.
Marx21 US 