Trump stages military parade amid ‘No Kings’ protests – DW – 06/14/2025

DW has been speaking to protesters in Philadelphia, the scene of one of thousands of “No Kings” protests against US President Donald Trump being held across the US Saturday. 

The “No Kings” marches are being held as a counter-protest to a rare military parade in Washington DC that also coincides with Trump’s 79th birthday.

One woman told DW that the protest was being held “to show we’re not afraid” and that Trump “can’t jail us all.”

“The parade today in DC is a joke, and everyone knows it. It’s a joke and it’s costing us millions of dollars,” she said.

Another protester, who identifies as a queer person from Phoenixville, a Philadelphia suburb, said the parade was like “something out of World War II”.

“We don’t really need to do that for someone’s birthday, and this country is becoming a lot more authoritarian and just very fascist — I feel like it’s no real place for it,” they said.

The protests on Saturday come amid growing unrest across the country against detentions and deportations of immigrants who authorities say are in the US illegally.

The White House controversially deployed National Guard troops and Marines in response to the protests.

A male protester told DW that he was protesting because “Trump is ripping foster children from parents, foster parents, he’s putting kids in cages and he has also sent more than 6,000 national troops to LA and other cities,” describing the Trump administration as a “dictatorship.”

US President Donald Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin called him to wish him a happy birthday.

Trump turned 79 Saturday as he prepared to host a rare military parade in the US capital.

“President Putin called this morning to very nicely wish me a Happy Birthday,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

In addition to the birthday wishes, Trump said the pair had also “more importantly” discussed Iran “at length.”

“Much less time was spent talking about Russia/Ukraine,” Trump added.

The US president also said Putin shares his view that “this war in Israel-Iran should end,” to which Trump said, “(Putin’s) war should also end.”

Trump had promised to end the war in Ukraine within days of taking office in January, but despite talks and diplomatic pressure, no lasting ceasefire has been agreed.
 

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said that Democratic politician Melissa Hortman, a former state House Speaker, and her husband were killed in a politically motivated shooting.

A second lawmaker, State senator John Hoffman, and his wife Yvette were shot and wounded in a separate attack, the governor added.

According to Walz, the gunman went to the Hortmans’ home after shooting Hoffman and his wife multiple times.

Meanwhile, law enforcement authorities said the gunman was dressed as a police officer. He escaped after exchanging fire with police who went to the Hortmans’ home.

A major search was underway for the suspect, who fled on foot after firing at police and abandoning a vehicle.

Read more here: US: Democratic politician and husband shot dead in Minnesota

Protesters began to gather in front of the Georgia state capitol in Atlanta on Saturday, many carrying American flags.

According to the Associated Press (AP), the first arrivals are racially diverse although mostly people “in their 50s or older,” plus some families with children.

“When cruelty becomes normal, compassion looks radical,” reads the message on one placard, whose owner says: “There’s just so much going on in this country that’s not OK, and if no one speaks up about it, who will?”

Over the state border to the south in Florida, however, Republican governor Ron DeSantis has said people could legally run over protesters with their cars if they were surrounded.

“You don’t have to sit there like a sitting duck and let the mob grab you out of your car and drag you through the streets,” he said. “You have a right to defend yourself in Florida.”

Over in Texas, governor Greg Abbott, also a Republican, has deployed his state’s national guard to manage any protests.

President Trump’s inspiration for today’s military parade appears to be France’s Bastille Day parade, the annual celebration of the French Revolution in 1789 – in which an absolutist monarchy was overthrown and replaced by a fledgling form of democracy, it should be noted.

In the United Kingdom, the monarch’s birthday is celebrated by a ceremonial military parade known as “Trooping the Colour” – which, this year, also took place today, as chance would have it.

Generally, however, public displays of military might are the preserve of less democratic regimes and more dictatorial rulers, from Russia to China to North Korea.

California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom has slammed Trump’s parade as a “vulgar display of weakness.”

“It’s the kind of thing you see with Kim Jong Un, you see it with [Vladimir] Putin, you see it with dictators around the world,” he said. “To fete the Dear Leader on his birthday? What an embarrassment.”

Trump has promised to use “very big force” if any protesters attempt to disrupt his parade — but his biggest problem may be something even he can’t control: the weather.

Thunderstorms are expected in Washington this evening, with the US Army saying on Friday that conditions were being “closely monitored and taken into consideration.”

Trump himself didn’t seem overly concerned, saying: “It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t affect the tanks at all, it doesn’t affect the soldiers. They’re used to it. They’re tough.”

Chief US Army spokesman Steve Warren told the Times of London:

“Rain won’t stop us; the tanks don’t melt. But if there’s lightning then that puts the crowd at risk. They will disperse the crowd and even cancel or postpone the parade. It will depend on the president, too, when he’s available.”

To coincide with military parade on Saturday, mass demonstrations have been planned across the United States in protest at the Trump administration.

Under the motto “In America, we don’t do kings” – a reference to the War of Independence against Great Britain (1775-1783) and the perception that Trump is acting like a monarch – organizers are planning over 2,000 events in each of the 50 states.

The protests are being coordinated by the “50501 Movement” – which stands for “50 states, 50 protests, one movement” – are designed to be the largest since Trump returned to office in January.

In Los Angeles alone, organizers are expecting at least 25,000 people to protest against Trump’s immigration policies, adding that they were “rejecting authoritarianism, billionaire-first politics, and the militarization of our democracy.”

According to the Associated Press, no protests are scheduled to take place in Washington, DC, itself, where officials say they have had no indication of any security threat to Trump’s parade.

But around a dozen ‘No kings’ events are due to take place in the surrounding areas, the closest being in Arlington, Virginia, just over the Potomac River from the Washington parade route.

US President Donald Trump has promised that Saturday’s military parade in Washington will be “like no other.”

Nearly 7,000 soldiers are expected to march along Constitution Avenue, with some wearing historical uniforms from periods including the American War of Independence, the Second World War and the Vietnam War.

Around 150 military vehicles — including Abrams main battle tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and Paladin self-propelled howitzers — will also feature, with certain sections of road reinforced to take the vehicles’ weight.

Overhead, more than 50 military helicopters will fly over the parade, including Apache gunships and Black Hawk and Chinook transport choppers.

The parade is expected to culminate with a display from members of the army’s Golden Knights parachute team who will jump down and present Trump with a US flag.

Trump has been keen to hold his own military parade ever since he witnessed a French parade while being hosted by President Emmanuel Macron during his first term. Opponents have said the parade is merely to stroke the president’s ego.

A detachment of US Marines arrived in Los Angeles on Friday after a week of anti-government protests in the city and ahead of further planned protests on Saturday.

According to the AFP news agency, the elite troops — who are trained for combat deployments abroad, not domestic policing — took up positions around a complex which is home to federal institutions including the FBI.

“Taxpayers’ money could be used for other things,” complained one passerby, while LA mayor Karen Bass said that the military presence would only fuel further protest.

“We do call on people over the weekend to demonstrate peacefully, to exercise your first amendment right, to not play into the hands where it could be used as a pretext to roll out troops in our city,” she said.

Along with National Guard units, the US Marines form part of a military deployment to LA deemed necessary by President Donald Trump to combat what he claims is a “foreign invasion.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom has called Trump’s actions a step toward authoritarianism and a “brazen abuse of power.”

Trump’s reaction to the protests in LA has sparked fears over the state of democracy, but others have warned the protests may actually fuel a taste for authoritarianism.

Predictably, there has also been a flood of misinformation and fake news surrounding the LA protests, from illegal migrants supposedly dousing themselves in gasoline and setting themselves on fire (false) to dozens of National Guard troops appearing to be sleeping on a basement floor (true).

How do we know? And how can you tell for yourself? DW’s Fact Check team explains.

As US President Donald Trump gears up for the first major military parade in the US in decades, protesters are planning “No Kings” events all over the country on Saturday.

What are they all about? Where are they taking place? And what exactly does “No Kings” mean?

DWs Carla Bleiker has all you need to know about the ‘No King’s protests here.

Hello and welcome to DW’s live coverage of the military parade in Washington, DC and the planned protests across the United States on June 14, 2025.

According to President Donald Trump, Saturday’s military parade — the first such event since 1991 — is in honor of the 250th anniversary of the US Army. June 14 also happens to be Trump’s 79th birthday, although the President has denied any connection.

Despite concerns over its $45-million (around €39 million) cost and the damage that heavy military vehicles could do to the streets of the capital (estimated at a potential $16 million), the parade is scheduled to begin at 6.30 p.m. (2230 GMT) local time.

Simultaneously, anti-Trump protests are planned across the country, with over 2,000 events planned across all 50 states.

Organizers say the demonstrations, taking place under the slogan “No thrones. No crowns. No kings,” are in protest at government corruption, deportations, disregard of the justice system, attacks on civil rights and the slashing of public services.