On Saturday, Oct. 18, millions of people from all 50 states assembled in almost 3,000 separate demonstrations in a historic ‘No Kings’ protest criticizing the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump. October’s second coming of similar ‘No Kings’ protests in June was 14 times larger than both of the president’s inaugurations combined, and some are now calling it one of the most successful peaceful demonstrations in American history, though reactions have varied along the political spectrum.
Since his second inauguration in January of 2025, President Trump’s policies, such as his crackdown on illegal immigration, escalation of trade wars, and response to violence in Ukraine and Palestine have sparked massive controversy throughout the country, with the animosity culminating in October’s second iteration of the ‘No Kings’ protest. As part of the nationwide demonstrations, rallies also gripped parts of Montgomery County, with protestors lining major local thoroughfares and holding signs decrying the Trump administration’s actions. Additionally, following a trend set in Portland, Ore., some local protestors also dressed up in inflatable costumes that ranged from frogs and pigs to chickens and dragons in what initially began as a symbol of defiance against immigration enforcement operations as well as characterizations of the city as a ‘war zone.’
There were numerous circumstances that led to the massive turnout. For instance, as a result of Montgomery County’s proximity to D.C., repeated rounds of layoffs and furloughs targeting federal workers implemented by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have had an outsized impact on the local community. Another common concern voiced by those at the protests was immigration. Montgomery County is one of the most diverse counties in the nation, with large immigrant communities from around the world.
Some RM students attended the protests, among them junior Oliver Lin. “It was kind of awe-inspiring because I’d never seen that many people in one place at once. The main event was on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the Capitol, and there was just a stream of people and it constantly kept coming… there was no stop for two hours of people going into Pennsylvania Avenue,” Lin said.
In addition, Lin also emphasized the role of creativity in the protests. “A big part of these protests, I feel like, is just people walking around and looking at each other’s signs because there are some pretty witty and creative things that people made,” he said.
Despite having gone to the protest, he also noticed a lack of protestors who were of a similar age. “I did not see people in high school, [but] there were a few people in middle, maybe elementary school, [and] a lot of old people,” he said.
Moreover, Lin also noticed other demographic disparities among those who turned out to protest. “I feel like with protests [it’s] always the middle class, which would be more white people,” he said. “They have more economic freedom, so they would have the ability to take off work, for example, and go to a protest. Whereas people working like, I don’t know, two or three jobs at once. and have a lower socioeconomic status, even though they might be more affected by the system that’s been protested, they might not have the opportunities to go out and protest.”
Lin also weighed in with his evaluation of the protest and how it will affect the country. “[The protest] might prove to some other people that a lot of people are willing to do things and not to just sit behind all of Trump’s excessive use of power…but I feel like it will take more than, like, relatively big protests like these to really make change in the country,” Lin said.
Despite the fact that many protestors came to the protests with specific grievances, Charles Holt, an AP World History and on-level government teacher, pointed to the lack of specificity in the demonstrators’ demands as a factor that could dampen its impact. “There’s been other protests where there was a much more specific goal or issue that people were upset about. You know, so with Black Lives Matter movements, people were upset about how Black people were being treated in our country, especially with police violence, and Women’s March was about women having certain rights being at stake,” Mr. Holt said. “I think this one is a little bit vaguer as far as what the protests are about, so just being against authoritarianism in general is a little tough to say whether or not it’s going to be a success.”
However, Mr. Holt also noted some aspects of the protests that could be considered a success. “I think where it could be seen as successful is because there are so many people that went out to it, the biggest benefit of it is to show the people that go to the protest that they’re not the only ones that have these same feelings. So it’s a show of solidarity. Also, we have the midterms coming up next year, so this could be a way to get some motivation and some energy behind people voting against the current administration,” he said.
President Trump spoke to the press in response to the protests. “I think it’s a joke…I guess it was paid for by [George] Soros and other radical left lunatics…The demonstrations were very small, very ineffective…those are not representative of the people of our country,” he said, “I’m not a king.” He subsequently posted an AI-generated video on his X account that showed a bright-orange version of himself wearing a crown while flying on a jet titled ‘King Trump,’ with the AI-generated Trump proceeding to drop bombs of feces on protestors.
Many were critical of the video. “I think it’s super childish,” Lin said. “It’s also kind of worrying that we’re at the point where we have a ‘No Kings’ protest, and then right after, the president posts a video where he calls himself a king, like the jet in the video [that] has ‘King Trump’ on the side of it, and he’s wearing a crown. That’s pretty concerning.”
Mr. Holt echoed criticism of the video, pointing to the comparatively small backlash it received compared to scandals that had befallen other presidents in the past. “Obama got tons of people upset with him because he wore a brown suit,” Mr. Holt said. “That was the big scandal of the Obama administration – he wore a brown suit, so if he had done something like this, I think we would have seen a bigger reaction. I think if any other president had [posted the video] it would be the number one news headline and maybe impeachable. It’s the fact that he gets away with doing jokes like that and that everybody just shrugs it off is pretty shocking.”
