Americans in every state marched in protest against the Trump administration, giving voice to concerns that the country is sliding into authoritarianism.
Millions turned out nationwide with signs, marching bands, a huge banner with the US constitution’s preamble that people could sign, and inflatable costumes ranging from bananas to SpongeBob SquarePants to frogs, which have in particular emerged as a sign of resistance beginning in Portland, Oregon.
The rallies are a turnaround from just six months ago, when Democrats seemed at a loss as to how to counter Republicans’ grip of the White House and both houses of Congress after stinging national election losses.
“What we are seeing from the Democrats is some spine,” Ezra Levin, a co-founder of Indivisible, a key organizing group, told the Associated Press. “The worst thing the Democrats could do right now is surrender.”
‘We are here to stand firm,’ Chicago mayor tells No Kings protesters
Chicago’s mayor, Brandon Johnson, told a crowd on Saturday that the Trump administration had “decided that they want a rematch of the civil war”, which the white supremacist Confederacy lost to the Union in the 19th century.
“We are here to stand firm and stand committed that we will not bend, we will not bow, we will not cower, we will not submit,” Johnson said. “We do not want troops in our city.”
Republicans subdued as millions march
Republican voices were mostly silent as No Kings rallies and marches against Trump administration policies unfurled on Saturday, many in the spirit of a street party that countered the “hate America” depiction advanced by senior members of the party.
Survivors of US strike on alleged drug boat may be sent to Colombia and Ecuador
The Trump administration is moving to send the two survivors of Thursday’s strike in the Caribbean overseas to Colombia and Ecuador rather than seek long-term military detention for them, four US officials and a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Saturday.
It means that the US military will not have to grapple with thorny legal issues surrounding military detention for suspected drug traffickers, whose alleged crimes do not fall neatly under the laws of war, legal experts say.
US Senate poised to approve industry lobbyist to lead chemical safety at EPA
The Senate is expected to approve Donald Trump’s nomination of an industry lobbyist to lead the US Environmental Protection Agency’s chemical safety office.
If the nominee, Douglas Troutman, is confirmed, the top four toxics office positions at the EPA will be held by former chemical industry lobbyists, raising new fears about the health and safety of the American public, consumers and workers, campaigners say.
US border authorities tell airlines to disregard ‘X’ sex markers on passports
US Customs and Border Protection implemented a rule this week that will require airlines to disregard “X” sex markers on passports and input an “M” or “F” marker instead.
While the courts have continued to prevent the Trump administration from outright banning a third gender marker, this week’s rule can still serve to make the lives of trans and non-binary people more difficult, said Andy Izenson, senior legal director at the Chosen Family Law Center.
What else happened today:
Disgraced former House member George Santos walked free from prison, provoking criticism from both sides of the political spectrum. Robert Zimmerman, the Democratic candidate Santos beat in 2022 to represent New York’s third congressional district, said in a statement that he had “no doubt that Santos will ultimately end up in Trump’s cabinet”.
A Vermont state lawmaker has resigned over racist and antisemitic chat messages that circulated within the Young Republican political group, another substantial consequence in a scandal that on Friday saw the New York state Young Republicans’ charter revoked.
Catching up? Here’s what happened on 17 October 2025.
