Since President Donald Trump swore in for the second time on Jan. 20, 2025, the country has become increasingly divided, presenting an ongoing battle between Democrats and Republicans. Trump’s recent controversial decisions – mass deportations of immigrants, targeting college funds, removing federal funding for news services – ignited fire in the citizens of the U.S. Many individuals perceive Trump’s decisions as him taking on a king-like role, which has sparked outrage across the country. After June 14, 2025, Americans have protested peacefully against our current government, exercising their First Amendment rights.
In Trump’s first term, various protests took place across the country, including the widely-known 2017 Women’s March, March for Our Lives, Black Lives Matter and more obscure ones such as the National Student Walkout. All of these movements had large turnouts with millions of people and resulted in notable and distinguishing impacts, even producing change on the federal level. The March for Our Lives movement helped in the approval of 250 new gun laws since 2018. The recent No Kings protests exceed these previous movements: it has climbed the ranks in magnitude and impact.
According to PBS News, the No Kings theme was created by the 50501 Movement, a national initiative composed of everyday Americans who stand for democracy against the authoritarian actions of the Trump administration. The 50501 Movement is a liberal group that aims to unite the Democratic party across the 50 states to promote change in America’s current government. The premise of No Kings is to protest against Trump’s perceived monarchy, creating change peacefully throughout the country to return power back to the hands of the people.
The first No Kings protest was held on June 14, intentionally on the same day of Trump’s 79th birthday party alongside the U.S. Army’s 250th Anniversary Parade. Citizens across the country were seemingly enraged that their tax money was wasted on this multimillion-dollar military parade, in lieu of fundamental change in government systems or the economy, prompting citizens to fight back. Users on TikTok even claimed to have bought tickets to Trump’s birthday parade with no intention to show up.
The planned No Kings protest was carried out in all 50 states. According to the No Kings website, millions of everyday Americans from all walks of life peacefully took to the streets and declared their demands with one voice: No Kings.
In response to the first wave of this protest, Trump sent militarized agents to shut them down around the country. On Oct. 18, four months after the first, Americans rose again to participate in the second No Kings protest, undeterred by threats of violence from Trump and his administration. According to No Kings, over seven million Americans joined over 2,700 events in all 50 states – a nationwide uprising 14 times larger than both of Trump’s inaugurations combined. Protests were held all across California, most notably in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Additional protests were held in Fremont, Alameda, Hayward, Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek.
After the second wave, Trump again disregarded the citizens’ demands, even mocking what the protests stood for. According to NBC News, on the day of the October protests, Trump promoted an AI-generated video depicting him in a fighter jet dropping what appeared to be feces on civilian protestors.
At Dougherty Valley High School, senior Siddharth Kalavacharla expressed his opinion on the No Kings movement and the current state of the government today, emphasizing the relevance to high school students. Although he had not participated in the first two protests, he still acknowledged the significant impact the movement holds in this generation.
“As a teenager, this is kind of the generation of civil disobedience,” Kalavacharla expressed. “It symbolizes that even at a young age, our generation isn’t backing down from fighting for what they believe is right.”
What change might come in the future is unknown, but a mass video call hosted by the No Kings group on Oct. 25 revealed their thoughts as 2025 comes to an end. This group continues to promote the power of the people which they feel has been slipping away under Trump’s second term. Instead of acting as bystanders to the perceived tyranny, Americans are acting to create major changes in our current government, intended for the overall safety of future generations.
“It reminds me that, in the future, I have the opportunity to let my voice be heard and organize people for a cause that I think needs attention,” Kalavacharla said. “But it’s also a reminder that some of those liberties may be under attack.”
