What did Donald Trump do today?

He hid at Mar-a-Lago and pretended seven million Americans taking to the streets against him didn't bother him.

Trump posted a picture of himself smiling and wearing a crown to his private blog today. There was no text accompanying it, but it may have been a subtle commentary on a protest held in his hometown of New York City:

 

However, there are other interpretations. It could also have been a reaction to similar protests held in Bellingham, WA

 

or Keene, NH

 

or San Francisco 

or Greensboro, NC

No Kings rally in Greensboro today! North Carolinians are standing up and speaking out for our democracy! Join our fight to protect everyone's freedom to vote and speak out against the legislature's harmful gerrymandering scheme: CCNC.me/cd1 #NoKings #Greensboro #NorthCarolina #democracy

[image or embed]

— Common Cause NC (@commoncausenc.bsky.social) October 18, 2025 at 7:31 PM

or Milwaukee

 

or "war-ravaged" Portland, OR

 

or Salt Lake City

 

or Columbia, MD

 

not to be confused with Colubmia, MO

Columbia, Missouri showing up for NO KINGS #NoKings

[image or embed]

— dawnhuber.bsky.social (@dawnhuber.bsky.social) October 18, 2025 at 11:03 AM

 

which is in turn distinct from Columbia, SC

 

or Denver

 

or Anchorage, AK

No Kings protest from Anchorage, Alaska biggest one yet 💙👍

[image or embed]

— Jay Wal Alaska (@jay-wal-alaska.bsky.social) October 18, 2025 at 7:19 PM

or Polebridge, MT (population 39)

 

or Burlington, VT 

No Kings Burlington, Vermont 10/18/‘25

[image or embed]

— SILVER LINING UNITED (@silverliningunited.bsky.social) October 18, 2025 at 1:31 PM

or Helena, MT

 

or Indianapolis 

My favorite signs from No Kings protest in Indianapolis today! My third one this year. Each one is bigger than the last. This gives me hope for the future. This is the long game for sure but we will win! #Nokings #Indy

[image or embed]

— Khristina Haan (@chakakhaan.bsky.social) October 18, 2025 at 4:19 PM

or Madison, WI

 

or Rockland, ME (population 6,936)

1700 people out for No Kings in rural Rockland, Maine today… more than 4% of the population of Knox County. #NoKings #Maine #MEPolitics

[image or embed]

— The Audacity! Creative Action Together in Midcoast Maine (@theaudacitymaine.bsky.social) October 18, 2025 at 12:44 PM

or Boston

 

or Lincoln, NE 

Lincoln NE showed up! #NoKinge

[image or embed]

— Nemeore Sunborne 🌒🌕🌘 🫘 (@nemeoresunborne.bsky.social) October 18, 2025 at 12:56 PM

or Albuquerque, NM

 

or Charlotte, NC

 

or Grand Forks, ND 

This is the No Kings protest in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Then the Red River of the North and the sister rally in East Grand Forks Minnesota. 🤩

[image or embed]

— Nancy (@enceedroo.bsky.social) October 18, 2025 at 4:42 PM

or San Antonio 

or Jersey City, NJ

 

or Birmingham, AL

 

or Lafayette, LA

No Kings in deep red Lafayette, Louisiana!!

[image or embed]

— Richard E Frankel (@refrankel.bsky.social) October 18, 2025 at 12:37 PM

 

or Chicago

 

or Oklahoma City

#NoKings - Oklahoma City @indivisible.org

[image or embed]

— Lisa B. 🐝 (@lisabraudrick.bsky.social) October 18, 2025 at 1:01 PM

or Caspar, WY

 

or Rehoboth Beach, DE

Rehoboth Beach Delaware no kings day

[image or embed]

— Random Man James (@jamesds.bsky.social) October 18, 2025 at 6:26 PM

or Nashville 

 

or San Jose

Hello BLUE SKY FRIENDS, Direct from San Jose No Kings Rally, 10/18/25

[image or embed]

— Christina🌊🌊 (@sassycc.bsky.social) October 18, 2025 at 6:05 PM

or Columbus, OH

 

or for that matter Columbus, GA

Columbus GA "No Kings"

[image or embed]

— Urotherright (@urotherhand.bsky.social) October 18, 2025 at 9:43 AM

or Des Moines, IA 

 

or Miami

No Kings - Miami

[image or embed]

— Tim Edwards (@timzero4.bsky.social) October 18, 2025 at 1:19 PM

 

or Boise, ID

 

or Jacksonville

No Kings PROTEST going on now in Jacksonville FL

[image or embed]

— dcandmax.bsky.social (@dcandmax.bsky.social) October 18, 2025 at 2:48 PM

or Lake Worth Beach, FL, a few miles from where Trump was spending the day in seclusion

Lake Worth Beach..near Mar a Lago.

[image or embed]

— Just a Cog (@eclecticlynn.bsky.social) October 18, 2025 at 4:08 PM

or Topeka, KS

 

or Little Rock, AR

 

or San Diego

 

or Louisville, KY 

No Kings in Louisville, Kentucky: I reported extensively on the 2020 Breonna Taylor protests and I don't think I've every seen as many people protesting in downtown Louisville as I did today.

[image or embed]

— Ryan Van Velzer (@ryanvanvelzer.bsky.social) October 18, 2025 at 2:51 PM

or Minneapolis

 

or Starkville, MS

or Romney, WV (population 1722)

No Kings, Romney, WV

[image or embed]

— Pgvauthor (@pgvauthor.bsky.social) October 18, 2025 at 10:11 AM

or Philadelphia

Holy fuck! No Kings protesters are marching through Center City in Philadelphia. 🙌💪👏✊️👇

[image or embed]

— Bill Madden (@maddenifico.bsky.social) October 18, 2025 at 1:31 PM

or Providence, RI

 

or Atlanta

 

or Austin 

 

or Los Angeles

or Houston

 

or Reno, NV

 

or Phoenix

Huge crowds at the No Kings protest in Phoenix AZ.

[image or embed]

— f4bill.bsky.social (@f4bill.bsky.social) October 18, 2025 at 4:21 PM

or Detroit

 

or Honolulu

Pix from the No Kings Protest today at the Hawaii State Capitol.

[image or embed]

— doomandgloom 💙📚🚀🌈🌴🌺🌞🏖🏝🎶🌹🐈‍⬛🌹💐🦋 🌻🇺🇦🇵🇸🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ (@doomandgloom1951.bsky.social) October 18, 2025 at 6:24 PM

or Dallas

 

or its neighbor Fort Worth

 

or Washington, DC (from which Trump was characteristically absent, since this was a Saturday)

 

or Seattle

 

or some 2,500 other protests against Trump held today under the collective banner of "No Kings." Organizers estimated the total attendance at these rallies at about 7,000,000. That number was confirmed as within the plausible range by an independent statistician, making it by far one of the largest public protests in American history.

Why does this matter?

• Because the United States is a democracy, Americans are still free to express just as much contempt for Trump as he has for them.  

• No matter how much it upsets him—no matter how desperately he needs people to believe it—no matter how special he thinks he is—Donald Trump is not a king.