Despite "No Kings," the Trump resistance is still "muscle-building"

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Despite “No Kings,” the Trump resistance is still “muscle-building”
Four experts on what could be a hot summer of protest and how to get at Trump's Achilles' heel

By Chauncey DeVega
Senior Writer
Published June 27, 2025 6:30AM (EDT)


(Salon) The American people live in the same country, but they increasingly do not share the same reality. The last few weeks — in which we have witnessed mass deportation raids in Los Angeles and other cities, the federalization of the California National Guard and the deployment of the military to put down protesters, a military parade on Donald Trump’s birthday that was an authoritarian spectacle, 5 million Americans participating in “No Kings” protests in 2,000 locations across the country, the targeting and assassination of Democratic politicians in Minnesota and the bombing of Iran — have offered a stark depiction of a split-screen America and its dueling realities.

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In more “normal” times, any one, or perhaps two, of these events would dominate the news cycle and political agenda for weeks. But the malignant Age of Trump depends on overwhelming and diverting the attention of our institutions and fellow citizens. With so much at stake, this moment depends on the American people understanding how these myriad events are connected, how they reflect a much larger unifying danger: That democracy and liberty are imperiled. And, with each passing day, matters are getting worse.

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Steven Beschloss is a journalist and author of several books, including “The Gunman and His Mother.” His website is America, America.

Donald Trump is a weak and desperate man who is determined to portray himself as strong and powerful. In all these months of degradations and desecrations of the rule of law, the Constitution and basic human decency, [these events have] felt like an inflection point for our country.

But I was encouraged by the split screen…between Trump’s sparsely attended and listless military parade and the spirited, joyful and defiant outpouring of millions of Americans around the country [for the “No Kings” protests] expressing their First Amendment rights and rejecting Trump’s hostile regime. The hopeful energy in large cities and small towns was palpable and contagious — and I suspect this was “muscle-building” for many Americans who’ve never participated in such an event or haven’t in a long time.

That said, my sober expectation is that it will take more than double the 5 million Americans estimated by organizers attending “No Kings” protests to begin to create an impact that can drive change. And it must be sustained with a clear message and goal, not just an occasional event. We know that Trump is narcissistically incapable of grasping how despised he is in America, especially since he’s surrounded by sycophants who refuse to tell him the truth like Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller, who are determined to prove that the harsher the cruelty and criminality, the greater the success. But mass protest can succeed at proving the fallaciousness of this proposition — that Americans will not bow down, be silenced or broken by this malignant regime that despises democracy. ..................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2025/06/27/steven-beschloss-the-no-kings-will-have-to-be-twice-as-large-to-slow-down-trumpism/