Over 3,000 "No Kings" events are planned for Saturday, as organizers move from protests to engaging early voters heading to the polls for the midterms. Stretching across the United States, the events are meant to encourage voters to head to the polls, rather than simply protest against President Donald Trump, organizers told Newsweek, with just over two weeks to go before an Election Day that will decide whether the Republican Party can keep control of the U.S. "For more than a year, millions of people have come together to reject the idea that power belongs to kings, billionaires, or politicians who believe they are above the people and the law," a spokesperson said in a statement.
"We’ve marched to speak out against government overreach and build our power. "Now, with Election Day approaching and voting beginning soon in many states, casting a ballot is our primary tool of making our voices heard." Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment Thursday afternoon. The "No Kings" movement is a nationwide anti-Trump protest and organizing coalition that emerged in 2025 after the president returned to the White House and organizers felt he was wielding power that went against the United States' founding principles.
The first major wave of protests came June 14, 2025, on the same day the president held a military parade marking the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary. Protestors held signs with messages calling out various Trump administration policies, including mass deportations, while others showed artwork of crowns crossed out.
While the messaging has largely been about Trump himself, the group behind the "No Kings" movement, Indivisible, has maintained that the key message is that political power should remain with the people, rather than leaders in Washington, D.C. The events taking place Saturday will put the focus on early voting, as millions of Americans are expected to vote ahead of Election Day itself, November 3, with many smaller events rather than large-scale protests. "October 17 is a celebration, an orientation, and an activation—all designed to drive mass early vote participation and build the nationwide capacity we’ll need to ensure the countless efforts to undermine our elections are met with the overwhelming nonviolent people power needed to defeat them," the spokesperson said.
Newsweek has mapped the majority of events as listed by "No Kings," although not all location information was available for the roughly 3,000 events set to take place in every U.S. state. The events range from online meetings to rallies in towns and cities at times across the day. Early voting is underway in many states, including the key battlegrounds of Georgia and Texas, with the former already seeing a surge in early voting to record levels.
For some voters, voting early will mean heading to designated polling locations in county election offices or temporary voting centers. Others can use mail or absentee ballots, depending on their state's laws. In most states, early voting is no different from voting on Election Day itself, with a voter still checking in, receiving a ballot, marking, and submitting it.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
