The glow of success has yet to fade on No Kings Day 2.0, and readers are already asking me, “What’s next?” The desire to continue the battle is a positive sign that Americans are eager to restore the rule of law as quickly as possible.
I will give a short answer and a long answer to the question posed by readers.
Short answer: Don’t wait for anyone to tell you what to do next! You know the drill! You have seen the template in action. Take charge! The resistance will achieve ultimate success when there are thousands of individual leaders who are rallying pro-democracy demonstrators every day of the week.
While nationwide protests are necessary and effective, so are smaller, continual protests on streetcorners, overpasses, roadsides, and in town squares. Consistency and dedication matter! But so do spontaneity, creativity, and passion!
Longer answer: Nationwide demonstrations take skill, planning, and coordination that are best handled by leading grassroots organizations like Indivisible, Swing Left, ACLU, MoveOn, Public Citizen, and 50501. No Kings Day 2.0 was a success because of the tremendous behind-the-scenes effort and coordination of seasoned grassroots leaders.
When leaders call for a national day of protest, it is critical that it mobilizes millions of Americans. Indeed, it is important that each national protest be bigger than the last to communicate urgency and momentum. That planning takes time. Still, members of national grassroots organizations (i.e., you) should be telling leaders not to wait four months for the next nationwide day of protest!
Smaller, sustained protests by individuals and local groups keep the pump primed for nationwide protests. But both local and nationwide protests are integral to our strategy to reclaim control of the government from the rogue president.
As I said, the “What’s next” question is a positive sign. But some political commentators are spinning that question in a negative way, as in, “Okay, so you had a big protest. What else you got?” Ignore them. They didn’t show up on No Kings Day 2.0 (or 1.0 for that matter). They are professional cynics for whom nothing will ever be good enough because their stock in trade is second-guessing people who are taking action to save democracy.
Concerned citizens have every right to be proud of what they accomplished on No Kings Day 2.0 and deserve a day or two of rest before being harassed by commentators to prove they can do more. They can, and they will. Just you wait!
I know that many readers are upset with the initial muted coverage in the national press. It is right to be disappointed by the disinterest of some in the national media. Although tallies are still being updated, it appears that approximately 7 million Americans participated in a No Kings Day rally—a fact that deserves to be headline news for a week.
Let’s pause to reflect on that number for a moment. If accurate, the 7 million figure means that on October 15, 2025, more than 2% of the total US population took to the streets to support democracy and oppose the anti-democratic actions of the president.
Motivating 2% of the population to do anything on a coordinated basis has rarely happened in the history of our nation. Some readers noted that early editions of the New York Times said that “thousands” had shown up to protest; later coverage by the Times on Saturday (updated on Sunday) gave a fair accounting of the large crowds. See New York Times, ‘No More Trump!’: Protesters Denouncing the President Unite Across the Country. (Accessible to all.)
And the Times embedded in the above article, entitled, Scenes from a Day of Mass Protests, (accessible to all), provides a view of protests across America.
As usual, many local newspapers did a good job of reporting on local protests. I invite readers to post non-paywalled links to local newspapers in the Comments section. (Please post a “gift link” or publicly available link to the articles. Please do not post links that circumvent copyright protections by using the “archive” modification to the URL.)
I expect that the news media will catch up to the story on Monday as the scale of the protests comes into focus. But you can help by amplifying positive news about the protests on social media and in local newspapers. Send “letters to the editor” saying that you are proud of local citizens and, if appropriate, thank the local law enforcement for providing security, traffic control, etc. Emphasize the true purpose of the rallies—to preserve democracy!
In response to reader requests, I am providing the link to a video of the No Kings Rally in Concord, Massachusetts, where I spoke. The link to the full 2-hour program is here: No Kings Rally – Concord, Massachusetts, October 18, 2025. I was the seventh (and last) speaker, and my remarks begin here, Robert Hubbell remarks at No Kings Day.
My wife dedicated her blog to the Concord No Kings Rally, which adds a bit more flavor to the event. She says some nice things about me, but that is her prerogative! See Everyday With Jill, Proud of Us: No Kings Day II 2025.
Trump proves why No Kings Day protests are necessary
On cue, Trump went out of his way on Saturday and Sunday to demonstrate why the No Kings Day protests are essential to preserving democracy.
I cover several developments below that make a single point:
It will be the people rising in protest who will stop Trump’s lawless reign.
Many of the institutions that serve as guardrails of democracy have proved incapable of meeting the moment: Congress, the two-party political system, corporate media, the Department of Justice, some military leaders, and the Supreme Court.
That leaves us, the people, as the last line of defense.
I will be briefer than usual; Jill and I traveled back to Los Angeles from Boston on Sunday, getting up at 1:00 a.m. Pacific to catch an early morning flight in Boston, and then visited the grandkids when we arrived home, which means I have been up for twenty-two hours straight to finish the newsletter. Not complaining; just explaining!
Trump’s attempt to use illegal tariffs as a “piggy bank” for his personal political benefit.
Trump is illegally imposing tariffs on American businesses, which they pass on to consumers in the form of higher prices. Trump has been promising to use those illegal tariff collections to reimburse farmers for China’s boycott of US soybeans, to fund food subsidy programs, and to pay the salaries of US soldiers.
The problem with Trump’s proposal is that it circumvents Congress, which is charged with imposing tariffs, collecting revenue, and spending those funds through the legislative appropriations process. If Trump can collect money (illegally) and spend it (illegally), then he has effectively eliminated the role of Congress.
On Sunday, Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana said that it was okay by him.
See Politico, Trump struggles to crack tariff piggy bank.
As explained by Politico,
The reality, however, is that the White House has extremely limited power to direct those funds without congressional direction, since revenue generated by the federal government flows into the Treasury and Congress decides how that money gets doled out.
When Senator Kennedy of Louisiana was asked about Trump’s claim that he could decide how to spend the illegally collected tariffs, Kennedy initially acknowledged that it was the role of Congress to spend those funds:
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), gave a definitive “yes” when asked if Congress would have to authorize the use of tariff funds.
But Senator Kennedy then said it was okay for the president to do whatever he wanted with the tariffs and that Congress would “sort it out later.” Here is what Kennedy said:
That doesn’t mean the president’s not going to do it and then sort out the process later. I mean, you see what I see. And I see what you see.
Kennedy’s statement that “you see what I see” is a reference to the fact that Trump is doing whatever he wants without regard to the Constitution, as Congress sits by doing nothing to check Trump’s unconstitutional raid on the US Treasury.
Senator Kennedy has surrendered to Trump’s lawlessness, abdicating his role as a participant in a coequal branch of government.
Senator Kennedy’s statement should be front-page news: “US Senator gives green light for Trump to violate Constitution.” Corporate media has also surrendered, no longer caring to report on Kennedy’s abdication of his duties as a US Senator.
That is why we protest. That is why it is up to us to be the last line of defense for the Constitution.
The US military endangers California motorists with reckless use of live explosives over freeway
Trump wanted to create a spectacle to distract from the No Kings Day rallies. He convinced the Marines to fire live ordnance from ships in the Pacific Ocean onto Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in Southern California. The path of the explosive projectiles passed over California’s main north-south highway, Interstate 5 Freeway. See Forbes, Newsom Calls Out Trump’s Plans For Live Fire Missile Demonstrations Over I-5.
The Trump administration and the Navy said it was okay to leave the I-5 Freeway open during the live fire demonstration, which meant that California motorists would be driving beneath missiles with live explosives. Fortunately, California Governor Gavin Newsom closed the I-5 Freeway during the live-fire exercises. Good thing he did.
One of the missiles exploded prematurely—over the I-5 Freeway—and struck a California Highway Patrol vehicle with shrapnel. See Fox 2, CHP vehicle damaged by shrapnel from live-fire demo over I-5 freeway.
The Marine commanders who agreed to this publicity stunt put the lives of California motorists and law enforcement at risk. The responsible commanders should have never agreed to the stunt and should be disciplined for their gross lapse of judgment. But starting with an apology to the people of California would be a good place to begin.
Instead, the Marines said they are “investigating” why a missile exploded prematurely—something that the Marine commanders surely know happens with a small percentage of all missiles fired. The military commanders failed us, the people they are sworn to protect, and they need to take a good, hard look in the mirror and into their consciences to understand why they did so.
That is why we protest. That is why it is up to us to be the last line of defense for the Constitution.
Trump posts a truly disturbing video created by “artificial intelligence” that displays him as a jet fighter pilot dropping feces on protesters.
Trump posted a video created by artificial intelligence that depicts him as a jet fighter pilot dropping feces on a crowd of protesters. See NYTimes, Trump Posts Fake Video of Himself Flying a ‘King Trump’ Jet Over Protesters. (Accessible to all.)
Kudos to the Times for covering the story, which most Sunday morning talk shows ignored. But here is the sanitized way that the Times described the video:
President Trump shared what appeared to be an A.I.-generated video on social media. It shows Mr. Trump wearing a crown and flying a jet that dumps brown liquid on demonstrators.
The link to the Truth Social video is here: Truth Details | Truth Social.
But in covering the bizarre and offensive video, the Times has failed to meet the moment—as have hundreds of other media outlets. A president mocking 2% of the US population by posting a simulated crowned-jet fighter dropping feces on Americans is front-page, 72-point, ALL CAPS headline material.
Instead, the Times seems to explain away Trump’s truly offensive conduct as follows:
Mr. Trump regularly reposts A.I.-generated or mocked-up imagery on his Truth Social account.
Note to Times: The fact that Trump regularly engages in offensive and insulting conduct is not a mitigating factor. It makes it worse.
The media has utterly failed in its responsibility to hold Trump to account for his behavior. They drove Joe Biden out of the 2024 primary because of his lifelong stutter. Trump insults the American people daily in hateful, offensive, narcissistic ways, and the press gives him a pass.
That is why we protest. That is why it is up to us to be the last line of defense for the Constitution.
Concluding Thoughts.
There is more, but I have run out of steam. I will comment tomorrow on Trump’s shameful treatment of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump’s apparent willingness to abandon Ukraine—a 180-degree swing from Trump’s position a month ago. Trump’s foreign policy is incoherent—a reflection of his mental decline.
I continue to receive hundreds of photos and notes from readers—a fact that makes my heart happy! You are rightly proud of your engagement. I have looked at all the photos and read all of your notes, but it will take me weeks to respond and post. Please do not take offense if I do not respond to your note or publish your photos. As I said, they have given me joy and new confidence that we will prevail.
The tide is turning. Together, there is nothing we cannot do!
Stay strong!
Protest Photos
Portland:
Silver Spring, MD:
Somewhere in Oz:
Kansas City, MO:
Eugene, OR
From reader Mark B:
Lopez Island, Washington
Hilo, Hawai’i:
Cincinnati, OH
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The Crab Nebula is a supernova remnant located about 6,500 light-years away. It is the glowing aftermath of a supernova explosion, observed on Earth in 1054 CE
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