Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters rallied in the Malaysian capital against the visit of US President Donald Trump. They accuse him of complicity in genocide over the Gaza war.
Published On 26 Oct 202526 Oct 2025
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Thousands converged on New York’s Times Square Saturday for a ‘No Kings’ protest against President Donald Trump. It was part of a nationwide event that comes amid military crackdowns in US cities, deportations and revenge indictments of political foes and in the wake of the Gaza peace deal.
Published On 18 Oct 202518 Oct 2025
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More than 2,600 rallies are planned in cities large and small, organised by hundreds of coalition partners.
Protesters have gathered in several United States cities for “No Kings” demonstrations against President Donald Trump’s policies on immigration, education and security, with organisers saying they expect more than 2,600 events across the country.
Saturday’s rally is the third mass mobilisation since Trump’s return to the White House and comes 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 organisers warn are a slide towards US authoritarianism.
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The rallies started outside the US, with a couple of hundred protesters gathering outside the US embassy in London, and hundreds more holding demonstrations in Madrid and Barcelona.
By Saturday morning in Northern Virginia, many protesters were walking on overpasses across roads heading into Washington, DC.
Many protesters are especially angered by attacks on their motivations for taking to the streets. In Bethesda, Maryland, one held up a sign that said: “Nothing is more patriotic than protesting.”
Trump himself is away from Washington 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 broadcast on Friday.
More than 2,600 rallies are planned on Saturday in cities large and small, organised by hundreds of coalition partners.
While the earlier protests this year – against Elon Musk’s cuts in spring, then to counter Trump’s military parade in June – drew crowds, organisers say this one is building a more unified opposition movement.
Top Democrats such as Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and Independent Senator Bernie Sanders are joining in what organisers view as an antidote to Trump’s actions, from the administration’s clampdown on free speech to its military-style immigration raids.
“There is no greater threat to an authoritarian regime than patriotic people-power,” said Ezra Levin, a cofounder of Indivisible, among the key organisers.
Before noon, several thousand people had gathered in New York City’s Times Square, chanting “Trump must go now”.
The American Civil Liberties Union said it has given legal training to tens of thousands of people who will act as marshals at the various marches, and those people were also trained in de-escalation.
Republicans have sought to portray participants in Saturday’s rallies as far outside the mainstream of US politics, and a main reason for the prolonged government shutdown, now in its 18th day.
From the White House to Capitol Hill, GOP leaders disparaged the rallygoers as “communists” and “Marxists”.
They say Democratic leaders, including Schumer, are beholden to the far-left flank and willing to keep the government shut down to appease those liberal forces.
“I encourage you to watch – we call it the Hate America rally – that will happen Saturday,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson.
“Let’s see who shows up for that,” Johnson said, listing groups including “antifa types”, people who “hate capitalism”, and “Marxists in full display”.
In a Facebook post, former presidential contender Sanders said, “It’s a love America rally”.
Dana Fisher, a professor at American University in Washington, DC, and the author of several books on US activism, forecast that Saturday could see the largest protest turnout in modern US history – she expected that more than 3 million people would participate, based on registrations and participation in the June events.
“The main point of this day of action is to create a sense of collective identity amongst all the people who are feeling like they are being persecuted or are anxious due to the Trump administration and its policies,” Fisher said. “It’s not going to change Trump’s policies. But it might embolden elected officials at all levels who are in opposition to Trump.”
With President Trump continuing to bulldoze through American politics, Democrats are forced to confront a fundamental question: Do voters even want what they’ve been offering?
The meteoric rise of Zohran Mamdani, a fiery young Democratic Socialist who recently claimed a shocking New York mayoral primary win, points to a grim answer.
It’s presumptuous to extrapolate too much from one state or local race. (Remember how Scott Brown’s special election win in Massachusetts was supposed to signal the end of liberalism? Exactly.) But underestimating moments like this is also dangerous because tectonic rumbles often precede a political earthquake.
Even if Mamdani isn’t the solution — and he likely isn’t — his stunning victory suggests a sobering possibility: The very thing Democrats have been running from is precisely what voters are chasing.
For a decade now, there have been basically two prevailing theories about how to beat Trump.
The first is simple: Be whatever he isn’t. If Trump is vulgar, be decent. If Trump is chaotic, be stable. If Trump breaks things, fix them. This theory is comforting, but it also assumes that voters will respond to decency and logic. An assumption that, as it turns out, is dubious.
The second theory, while cynical, may be more accurate: Fight fire with fire. If you can’t beat him, join him. Not on policy — that would be insane — but on vibe. If Trump is a spectacle, Democrats should find one of their own.
Trump understood the importance of dominating the public’s attention from the start. Apparently, so does Mamdani. And so do a handful of other left-wing firebrands (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders, et al.) who make the party’s establishment look like buttoned-up accountants.
There are different ways to break through in the modern era. You can be young and hip. You can be weird and magnetic. You can master the art of long-form podcast appearances and creating viral social media videos. But above all, you must eschew the trite pablum of scripted politicians.
In this regard, it’s difficult to divorce style from substance. It’s no coincidence that today’s most attention-grabbing pols tend to promote the most radical proposals that also happen to excite previously underserved portions of the electorate.
“Build the wall.” “Lock her up.” “Defund the police.” “Medicare for all.” These slogans are all, to varying degrees, unworkable — and previously unthinkable. But they all sound unorthodox and decisive, which in the contemporary political ecosystem is more effective than being wise or correct. Case in point: Trump can shift an entire news cycle by suggesting we should invade Canada or Greenland.
Could a mainstream Democrat, if he or she were charismatic and talented enough, cut through that noise? In theory, yes. But the problem with moderates is that they tend to be moderate. Even in how they talk and how they dress.
It’s not just their policies that feel safe — it’s their entire aesthetic. And in the attention economy, that’s a real handicap.
The center, to paraphrase Yeats, cannot meme.
This is why Mamdani’s radical take on politics is so resonant. Like Trump before him, he proposes ideas that have been wildly outside the political mainstream, and he actually seems to believe what he’s saying.
This last part is key. Younger voters, especially, don’t merely want revolutionary policy positions; they want existential authenticity.
So what is his radical take on politics? Mamdani wants to freeze rents and make buses and childcare free. He doesn’t think billionaires should exist. He has floated the idea of government-run grocery stores. He’s openly anti-Zionist. He refuses to condemn the incendiary phrase “globalize the intifada.” He’s confrontational. He’s shocking. He’s newsworthy. He’s … a complete turnoff to middle-aged, conservative commentators like me — which is proof he’s succeeding!
It might be horrible for America to have not one, but two extremist parties; but after years of trying to sell candidates who won’t scare the suburban normies (with Kamala Harris being an earnest yet flawed attempt at this), you could forgive Democrats for wondering if what they really need is a Trump of their own. Someone who is fiery, meme-ready and authentically combative (albeit in a younger and entirely different package than Trump).
It’s way too soon to say if this will be their trajectory. But it’s worth noting that, outside of Mamdani’s victory, the only Democratic moments this year that have evoked any real excitement or virality came during AOC and Bernie rallies.
Still, nothing is guaranteed. If Democrats decide to go this route (say, with an AOC candidacy in 2028), they risk alienating otherwise “gettable” swing voters and dragging down the entire ticket.
Indeed, some of Trump’s most potent 2024 ads involved pointing out Harris’ previous dalliances with “woke” politics. And that was with a candidate going out of her way to appear moderate.
What energizes the base can just as easily terrify the middle. And it could hand fresh ammunition to a suddenly rudderless Republican Party, which without Trump on the ballot in 2028 could be quite vulnerable to losing to a standard-issue “vanilla” Democrat.
Nevertheless, there’s an increasing sense that Democrats have no choice but to crawl into the carnival tent Trump built and become louder, flashier and fringier than he was. Not just because trying to be the respectable (read “boring”) party of institutions failed, but because our modern media milieu all but demands it.
Matt K. Lewis is the author of “Filthy Rich Politicians” and “Too Dumb to Fail.”
Long Beach City College football coach Brett Peabody has agreed to resign following backlash from a profane direct message he sent to an online publisher who is critical of President Trump.
On the day of Trump’s inauguration in January, Peabody sent a private message to Aaron Rupar, who has nearly 1 million followers on X. Rupar, in turn, made the message public.
“You’re done you sorry fascist scumbag, hope you get held accountable for the bulls— that yiu e spread. Justice is in the horizon kiddo,” Peabody’s direct message read. He then added “you’ve*” to correct his own typo.
Rupar shared the message on his X account and added, “I get lots of threatening DMs but I usually don’t get them from head coaches of college football programs.” That post has been viewed 1.2 million times and reposted by 4,200 users as of Wednesday.
Records obtained by the Long Beach Post show that Peabody has agreed to resign. Emails the Post obtained indicate Peabody was placed on paid administrative leave in February and a month later he agreed to resign at the end of the year.
Peabody will remain on paid leave through December and will be paid a six-month severance of approximately $60,000, according to a settlement agreement obtained by the Post.
Marques Cooper was named LBCC acting head coach in March. Cooper had been the defensive coordinator and has been an assistant coach at Azusa Pacific, El Camino College and Santa Monica City College.
Peabody told the Long Beach Post in January that sending the message to Rupar was “dumb” and “was clearly not the best decision.” He apologized to LBCC, saying the tone of the post was “harsh and regrettable,”
“It was not a threat in any way, shape or form,” Peabody said. “If you read it, I’m not sure how it could be construed as a threat. … I’d like to see journalists held at a higher standard.”
A petition to reinstate Peabody that was posted on change.org by LBCC players and associates of Peabody has 68 signatures. “Throughout his tenure with us, [Peabody] has demonstrated exceptional leadership, dedication, and a true, burning passion for helping athletes develop both their skills and character,” the petition reads.
Peabody took over as head coach at LBCC in 2013, leading the Vikings to conference titles and bowl wins in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019. Previously, he was head coach and an assistant at L.A. Harbor College and head coach at South High School in Torrance.
Americans are taking to the streets on Saturday to protest United States President Donald Trump’s policies in thousands of locations across the country.
The “No Kings” protests will coincide with a military parade in Washington, DC, marking the US Army’s 250th anniversary, and with Trump’s 79th birthday.
The demonstrations are planned after days of protests against immigration arrests in multiple US cities.
Protesters planning to take part in the No Kings demonstrations said they oppose the Trump administration.
The organisers’ website said the administration has “defied our courts, deported Americans, disappeared people off the streets, attacked our civil rights, and slashed our services”.
Since Trump’s inauguration, the administration has sent immigrants to foreign prisons, set immigration arrest quotas, clashed with courts, slashed government jobs and proposed reductions to social services.
The website describes the protests as a “national day of defiance”.
The name of the protests is derived from opposition to one-person rule. “The corruption has gone too far. No thrones. No crowns. No kings,” the website said.
The protests are planned in more than 2,000 cities and towns in all 50 US states as well as in Mexico, Australia, Malawi and some European countries, the organisers’ map shows.
The protesters plan to gather at a range of meeting spots, such as parks, community centres and public landmarks.
Major rallies are planned in Philadelphia, Charlotte, Atlanta, Houston, Chicago and New York.
However, the organisers have deliberately left Washington, DC, off the map and protests will not be held there.
The reason they provide on their website is: “Instead of allowing this birthday parade to be the center of gravity, we will make action everywhere else the story of America that day: people coming together in communities across the country to reject strongman politics and corruption.”
The protests are organised by a social media movement called 50501, which stands for “50 states, 50 protests, one movement”.
Times vary according to location and can be found on the organisers’ map.
Some locations will begin protesting early, such as Norman, Oklahoma, where the protest is to begin at 9am (14:00 GMT).
Others will start demonstrations in the evening. In Big Sur, a rugged region on California’s central coast, protests are to begin at 4:30pm (23:30 GMT).
On Saturday, the military parade and celebration in Washington, DC, are to begin about 6:30pm (22:30 GMT).
Tanks will roll through the streets of the US capital in the first military parade to be staged in the US since 1991 when a parade marked the end of the Gulf War under President George HW Bush.
Thousands of soldiers will take part in the parade along with hundreds of military aircraft and vehicles. Army officials have estimated the cost of the parade to be $25m to $45m.
The No Kings website said the protests are intended to be peaceful. “Weapons of any kind, including those legally permitted, should not be brought to events,” it said.
However, the No Kings demonstrations are planned after days of protests in multiple US cities, beginning in Los Angeles, against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and Trump’s use of the military to quell protests.
The anti-immigration protests began on June 6 in Los Angeles after military-style ICE raids on several locations across the city, resulting in the detention of 44 people. While the protests in all cities have reportedly been largely peaceful, occasional clashes have led to injuries and further arrests. The immigration raids continue, and National Guard soldiers have been deployed in multiple cities. Trump has also sent Marines to Los Angeles.
Ahead of the No Kings protests, some Republican leaders have threatened demonstrators with prosecution if protests become violent, some even going as far as to mobilise National Guard forces in advance of the protests. This approach has attracted a large amount of criticism.
“Protests are tumultuous, and military forces are trained to kill,” Gregory Magarian, professor of law at Washington University’s School of Law in St Louis, Missouri, told Al Jazeera.
When asked about the protests, Trump said at a White House news briefing on Thursday: “I don’t feel like a king, I have to go through hell to get stuff approved.”
The president’s allies and Republican lawmakers responded with laughter to his response.
“We’re not a king at all, thank you very much,” he said.
However, Trump has made use of this terminology himself in the past. In February, he posted on his Truth Social platform: “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!”
Congestion pricing refers to fees levied on motorists entering cities. It is aimed at reducing road traffic and increasing the use of public transport. Trump wrote the post after Sean Duffy, his transportation secretary, wrote a letter to New York Governor Kathy Hochul ending the US Department of Transportation’s agreement with the state for congestion charging in Manhattan.
Shortly after, the White House shared a computer-generated photo of Trump wearing a crown on a fake Time magazine cover.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced on Thursday that he ordered the deployment of more than 5,000 National Guard soldiers and 2,000 state police officers to help manage the anti-ICE protests in the state on the border with Mexico.
Abbott also deployed National Guard soldiers in San Antonio during protests against immigration enforcement actions there.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said during a news conference on Tuesday: “The minute you cross into attacking law enforcement, any type of rioting, any type of vandalism, looting, just be prepared to have the law come down on you.”
Republican South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson released a video on his X account warning “extremist left-leaning groups” against causing disruptions in South Carolina. “If you attack our officers, destroy property, or threaten innocent lives in South Carolina – you will be arrested, charged, and prosecuted. No excuses. No second chances.”
Radical leftist groups and outside agitators are threatening to bring violence and chaos to our communities on June 14 — Flag Day and President Trump’s birthday.
Let me make this crystal clear:
If you attack our officers, destroy property, or threaten innocent lives in South… pic.twitter.com/G67gBBlpIa— Alan Wilson (@AGAlanWilson) June 11, 2025
Anti-ICE protests are continuing in Los Angeles and other cities.
Civil and human rights attorney Robert Patillo told Al Jazeera that the protests could be expected in “more than 30 cities, met with a familiar response: more riot gear, more barricades”.
“The protests are spreading because what’s happening in Los Angeles isn’t unique – it’s a mirror,” Patillo said.
“Communities across the country see themselves in the images coming out of LA: the same painful encounters with police, the same racial disparities, the same struggle to make ends meet in a system that feels stacked against them. These aren’t isolated incidents. They’re part of a deeper, shared experience of injustice that stretches from coast to coast.”