Rallies Planned in Thousands of US Cities for 'No Kings' Protests

Thousands of rallies are expected across the U.S. and cities around the world on Saturday in the latest "No Kings" protest against the policies of President Donald Trump and his administration.

Organizers say that more than 3,200 events are planned in all 50 states for what they hope could be the largest single-day nonviolent protest in U.S. history. The two previous No Kings events attracted millions of participants.

Flagship rallies will take place in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Minnesota's Twin Cities, but two-thirds of participants are expected from outside major city centers, a nearly 40% jump for smaller communities from the movement's first mobilization last June, organizers said.

"The defining story of this Saturday's mobilization is not just how many people are protesting, but where they are protesting," said Leah Greenberg, co-founder of Indivisible, the group that started the No Kings movement last year and led planning of Saturday's events.

With midterm elections later this year in the U.S., organizers say they've seen a surge in the number of people organizing events and registering to participate in deeply Republican states such as Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and Utah.

Competitive suburban areas that have helped decide national elections are seeing "huge" increases in interest, Greenberg said, citing Pennsylvania's Bucks and Delaware counties, East Cobb and Forsyth in Georgia, and Scottsdale and Chandler in Arizona as examples.

In a statement, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson dismissed the rallies as "Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions" of interest only to journalists.

Saturday will mark the third No Kings Day of Action. The movement launched last year on Trump's birthday, June 14, and drew an estimated 4 to 6 million people spread across roughly 2,100 sites nationwide.

The second mobilization in October involved an estimated 7 million participants across more than 2,700 cities, according to a crowd-sourcing analysis published by prominent data journalist G. Elliott Morris.

A backlash against a government shutdown, an aggressive crackdown by federal immigration authorities, and the deployment of National Guard troops to major cities largely fueled that October event.

Saturday's protest comes amid what organizers called a call to action against the bombardment of Iran by the U.S. and Israel, a conflict that is now four weeks old.