Last October 18th, more than seven million demonstrate in 2,700 US cities against the authoritarian and fascist drift of the Trump administration: 350,000 in New York, 300,000 in Chicago, 100,000 in Los Angeles and Boston, 70,000 in Seattle, 50,000 in San Francisco and Portland, as well as thousands and tens of thousands in hundreds of medium and small cities across the US.
The mobilizations surpassed the June protests of this year, also organized by No Kings, by two million people, demonstrating the enormous anger against the Trump administration.
In recent months, Trump has unleashed ICE against migrants in working-class neighborhoods of major American cities, turning it into his paramilitary troops against the working class and the left, like the Nazis SS. He has further intensified the genocide in Gaza, presenting a shame “peace” plan to complete it, and threatens with new imperialist aggressions, as we are seeing with Venezuela. He has also approved a budget that will give billions of dollars to Wall Street and his billionaire friends, while massively cutting already severely underfunded social services, and now the threat of a government shutdown that has already resulted in the dismissal of 900,000 workers and another 700,000 working without pay.
But this entire offensive is facing an increasingly forceful and radicalized response from below through direct action, expelling ICE from neighborhoods through mass mobilizations, as just happened in New York; defending migrants assaulted by masked ICE agents and forcing them to retreat without being able to make arrests; or demonstrating repeatedly against Zionist genocide and in solidarity with the Palestinian people. The rebellion against Trumpism is growing and becoming more radical.
#ULTIMAHORA | 🇺🇸 | Nueva York en caos:
— Quesdilla de Verdades Youtube (@QuesaVerdadess) October 22, 2025
En un momento increíble, residentes furiosos de la ciudad de Nueva York presenciaron cómo agentes de ICE detenían a varias personas en Canal Street, y los expulsaron del área al grito de “¡ICE GO NOW!”.#EEUU #NewYork #ICE #Inmigracion pic.twitter.com/TU3xWjzTAx
It is clear that Trump and his cronies, among whom are some of the most important CEOs in Silicon Valley and Wall Street, would establish a fascist dictatorship if they could, outlawing unions and persecuting the left and social activism. In fact, they are already taking steps in that direction. But for now, as has been shown by this mobilization, the growing response against ICE, and the struggle for Palestine, the strength of the working class and youth is preventing them to do it.
The protests denounced the openly dictatorial nature of the Trump administration, drawing parallels with British monarchical rule over the colonies. Millions of people marched with signs against the president, against fascism, against the government shutdown, in defense of feminism and the LGBTQ+ community, or against the genocide in Gaza and in solidarity with the Palestinian people, despite attempts by some sectors of the Democratic Party to avoid it.
But a very significant sector are not demonstrating only against an individual -against Trump-, or against a party -the Republicans-, as the Democratic leadership tries to portray, but against an entire system, capitalism, which condemns millions to misery, precariousness, repression, and the most atrocious militarism.
After our migrant brothers and sisters, the focus is now on the antifascist left
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, in a clear provocation days before these massive protests, suggested that they were led by “enemies of the US,” targeting the right to demonstrate and freedom of expression.
As we have been explaining, the main objective of Trump’s administration is the war against the “enemy within,” starting with migrants, but continuing with all those who oppose him, from the antifascist movement to the labor and union movement, the feminist movement, and the militant left.
This was clearly stated a month before by Trump himself and the US Attorney General, Pam Bondi, who went so far as to say that what they are doing now on the Venezuelan coast, with extrajudicial killings, could end up being done on American soil against this “enemy within.”
The Trump administration itself has already approved an Executive Order “against Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence,” which targets organizations and individuals with “anti-Christian” or “anti-capitalist” attitudes. Here we see the concrete implementation of Trump’s announcement to outlaw Antifa, which some media undervalue, but that represents a very real threat.
Thousands of people rallied in Louisville as part of the second nationwide "No Kings" protests Oct. 18.
— Courier Journal (@courierjournal) October 18, 2025
Read more: https://t.co/pzyn0vHErT pic.twitter.com/To7TiNjbdI
The Democratic Party is part of the problem
These demonstrations, formally put forward by the No Kings Platform, had brought together NGOs, civil and human rights organizations, and many other social associations and groups. It has also been promoted by militant left-wing organizations and unions, especially public sector workers' unions in response to the federal government shutdown.
The Democratic establishment is also part of this movement through a myriad of entities. That includes the governor of California and the mayor of Los Angeles, who, after half-heartedly criticizing Trump's deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles, did not hesitate to send their own police forces to suppress the protests or impose a curfew in the city center. Nor did 75 Democratic members of Congress hesitate to pass a resolution last June supporting Trump's deportation policy, and thanking "law enforcement officers, including personnel from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), for protecting the homeland." Yes, this is the reality!
And, of course, they have continued to support the genocidal state of Israel, as they did under Biden's presidency, with many of their congressmen and senators receiving massive donations from the Zionist lobby AIPAC, despite the campaign of denounce of thousands of activists.
A large part of the Democratic leadership is completely discredited, incapable of confronting the dangerous authoritarian offensive of Trumpism. And that is precisely why we need to learn lessons about what works and what doesn't in the fight against Trump and fascism.
For a general strike! We must build a revolutionary alternative!
This mobilization, or the uprisings against ICE in working-class cities and neighborhoods, demonstrate the enormous strength that the mass movement and the American working class retain, and that the battle against Trump is wide open. But it is necessary to take steps forward that the corrupt, capitalist, Democratic apparatus -which paved the way for Donald Trump's victory with its policies-, will never promote.
The pressure in this regard is clear. In the days leading up to and during the demonstrations themselves, the call for a general strike to topple the Trump administration gained traction, even being echoed by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who, although a Democrat, was one of the leaders of the successful teachers' strikes of 2011.
NO KINGS: MILLONES DE PERSONAS CONTRA EL AUTORITARISMO DE TRUMP
— Spanish Revolution (@Spanish_Revo) October 19, 2025
El grito “No Kings” (Sin Reyes) ha vuelto a llenar las calles de Estados Unidos. Desde Los Ángeles hasta Nueva York, más de 2.500 marchas recorrieron el país este 18 de octubre, en una movilización que ya suma… pic.twitter.com/Xaz3U7FgyL
Unfortunately, Bernie Sanders, who spoke as one of the main speakers at the Washington D.C. rally and still holds considerable influence within the movement, refused to issue a single criticism of the Democratic Party. He merely made abstract references of the People’s need to resist Trump's authoritarian drift, while simultaneously called on Republicans to negotiate the budget! Could anyone be more naive? He wants to negotiate with the very same people he claims want to destroy "American democracy"? What sense does this make?
The threat of Trumpism is not a joke. That is why this threat cannot be confronted with general speeches and calls for popular resistance. The complete inaction of Democrats, if not their direct collaboration—for example, in the racist raids by ICE—strengthens trumpism. And when they do confront it, they reduce their fight to go to court. Courts, like the Supreme, that are also dominated by far-right elements and that, when time comes, will faithfully serve their master.
The battle against Trumpism requires concrete steps to deploy and demonstrate the enormous strength of the labor movement. We must raise the banner of the general strike, as is already being done from below. We need a general strike to protect our migrant brothers and sisters, to fight job insecurity, to confront social cuts, and to halt the militaristic waste that only serves to massacre other peoples, like the people of Gaza.
A general strike that also puts on the agenda the battle against capitalism, the expropriation of those large monopolies and banks that are profiting immensely from Trump's criminal policies at the expense of the misery and barbarity of millions of workers inside and outside US borders.
We need to build a revolutionary alternative that arises from the movement itself, from below, through direct action, mass struggle, and that consistently defends a socialist program. No Kings demonstrations, the movement in solidarity with the Palestinian people, and the combative and massive resistance against ICE raids, point the way out. These are new milestones in the organization of this movement, from which will emerge the leaders and organizations capable of confronting the fascist threat and ending capitalist barbarity. There's no time to lose!
