“The President believes his power is absolute. But in the United States we have no kings and we will not give in to chaos, corruption and cruelty,” says the “No Kings” movement, which brings together some 300 organizations, on its website.
Organizers expected millions of people to attend rallies in big cities, small towns and some foreign capitals.
“This President is a disgrace and I hope there are millions of people in the streets today,” said Stephanie, a 36-year-old hospital worker who did not want to give her last name to AFP in the New York neighborhood of Queens, where hundreds gathered early in the morning.
Protesters carried signs with slogans such as “Queens say no to kings” and “We are protesting because we love America and we want it back!”
Protesters packed Times Square, Boston Common, Grant Park, and hundreds of smaller public spaces in New York City.
The rallies outside the United States were in front of Washington’s embassy in London, and hundreds more in Madrid and Barcelona.
“There is nothing more American than saying ‘we have no kings’ and exercising our right to peacefully protest,” said Leah Greenberg, co-founder of Indivisible, a progressive organization that is the main organizer of these marches.
Millions of people attended protests on June 14 after Trump ordered the deployment of troops to Los Angeles, a move that led his critics to accuse him of acting like a dictator.
It was the largest day of demonstrations since the Republican returned to the White House in January.
In June, Trump vowed to use “very large” force if protesters tried to disrupt the military parade in Washington DC.
He has since expanded the deployment of troops in American cities, which has outraged his critics.
“They say they refer to me as a king. I’m not a king,” Trump declared on Fox News in response to the protests.
His main allies in the Republican Party were more combative, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, described the day of protest as a demonstration of “I hate America.” “They are going to bring together Marxists, socialists, Antifa defenders, anarchists and the pro-Hamas wing of the far-left Democratic Party,” he declared.
Democratic Congressman Glenn Ivey rejected the term “hate”, telling AFP on Friday: “I understand why they are nervous and try to portray it in a negative light.”