Thousands of protesters gathered in cities and towns across the nation on Saturday to condemn a president they see as acting like a king.
Rallies were scheduled at more than 2,600 locations, from Manhattan to Richmond, Ky., to San Francisco, part of a daylong mass demonstration that was expected to draw millions of people. Protesters in countries including Germany, Sweden and France also joined in solidarity.
A similar event in June had considerable turnouts at rallies in all 50 states, but organizers expect to see a much larger number of participants on Saturday, fueled by President Trump’s actions in recent months, including his role in the government shutdown, his attacks on higher education and the pressure he has placed on the Justice Department to prosecute political enemies.
“I think that this is going to be a stronger push than the last one,” said Hunter Dunn, a spokesman for the coalition behind the event, which organizers have called No Kings Day.
“I’m seeing more of an emphasis on the understanding that this is not just a sprint,” he added, where there is a mass mobilization and then everyone goes home and Mr. Trump’s agenda is defeated. “We are seeing a difference in the understanding of the general public, that this is a marathon.”
The organizers, which include national and local groups and well-known progressive groups like Indivisible, 50501 and MoveOn, say that previous demonstrations helped get the word out, and that they have received public support from an array of celebrities, including the actor Robert De Niro.
“We’re rising up again this time, nonviolently raising our voices to declare: No kings,” Mr. De Niro said in a video.
The phrase is a reference to King George III, who exerted his power over the American colonies that sought freedom. The coalition behind No Kings contends that Mr. Trump is overseeing a similar authoritarian government. The core principle of the protests is nonviolence, and organizers are said to be trained in de-escalation.
Saturday’s events are taking place as Mr. Trump has made a dizzying array of policy changes in quick succession, and organizers foresee a new round of protesters, spurred by outrage over the immigration raids, the deployment of armed federal troops, the government layoffs and the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill.
The forcefulness of Mr. Trump’s second term may have galvanized protesters, said Jeremy Pressman, a political science professor who co-directs the Crowd Counting Consortium, a joint project of the Harvard Kennedy School and the University of Connecticut.
“The intensity of the action is going to feed into the intensity of the counteraction or counterprotest,” he said.
The last No Kings Day, in June, was one of the largest single days of protest in U.S. history, Mr. Pressman said, adding that an analysis showed that protest events now occur across a wider range of counties — including those where a majority voted Republican — than during Mr. Trump’s first term.
Republican leaders have denounced the demonstration, blamed it for prolonging the government shutdown and called it the “hate America rally.” They have also said, without evidence, that protesters are being paid to show up.
“It’s all the pro-Hamas wing and, you know, the antifa people,” Mike Johnson, the House speaker, said last week on Fox News. “They’re all coming out.”
Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary, said on Fox Business: “You know, ‘no kings’ means no paychecks. No paychecks and no government.”
The previous event was held on the day of a military parade in Washington for the Army’s 250th anniversary. It was also Mr. Trump’s 79th birthday.
Corina Knoll is a Times correspondent focusing on feature stories.
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