No Kings Day draws on the sentiment from the founding ideals of American democracy, that the power belongs in the hands of the people, who have a responsibility to resist tyranny. This past Saturday, Newport News joined 3,300+ No Kings demonstrations nationwide to protest the Trump administration in the third installment of No Kings Day.
The first installment took place in June of 2025, rallying over 3 million people nationwide, followed by 7 million the following October. Early estimates of the Mar. 28 protests approximate around 8 million people who turned out across the country, The New York Times reports.
After the last No Kings Day, Donald Trump posted an AI video of himself in a fighter jet, wearing a crown, dropping feces on protesters. He called himself “King Trump.” Trump also told CNN in October that the No Kings demonstrations were “very small,” and “very ineffective.”
The protests were the largest single-day demonstrations in modern U.S. history, exceeding the previous record set by the 2017 Women’s March to rally against Trump’s misogynistic rhetoric, the Guardian reports.
This unprecedented mass mobilization came ahead of what was widely described as a “blue wave” election on Nov. 4, where in Virginia alone, Democrats flipped 13 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates, won several down-ballot statewide races and flipped the governorship in a historic win for Abigail Spanberger.
In her response to Donald Trump’s State of the Union in February, Governor Spanberger argued that Trump’s actions were against the vision of the founders, stating, “This is not what our founders envisioned. Not by a long shot.”
Trump responded to this “blue wave” by prompting Texas to pass a congressional map that would tilt five House seats to Republicans, a push that has “set off a redistricting race not seen since the 1960s,” NPR reports.
Congressman Bobby Scott, who represents Virginia’s 3rd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives, attended the Saturday protest and spoke to The Captain’s Log about the Republican party’s redistricting tactics.
“The Republican congress is not using their ability of checks and balances and the President is doing anything he wants,” Rep. Scott said. He continued, “The people can come out and show that we don’t like what’s going on. When the people take a position, the politicians usually respond. If they don’t respond, we’ll see them in November.”
Virginia’s Democratic-led legislature voted last year to hold a special election this April that could amend the state constitution to allow redistricting in hopes of leveling the playing field for the 2026 midterm elections on Nov. 3.
Organizers from the Virginians for Fair Elections campaign had a table with information set up in close proximity to the demonstration at the intersection of Jefferson Avenue and Oyster Point Road. Restoring fairness back into elections was one among many of the concerns held by Newport News protesters at the Saturday demonstration, with several signs reading “Vote Yes by April 21st.”
Many of the signs held by protesters insinuated that Trump’s war against Iran is a distraction from the Epstein Files, which includes numerous allegations of sexual abuse towards minors made against Trump, who is mentioned more than 38,000 times in the files, the BBC reports.
An integral part of these demonstrations are the interactions with vehicles passing by. Drivers passing by could clearly see the “No Kings” messaging, but several signs prompted honking for specific issues, one sign reading “Honk if it’s not OK to spend $1B/day on this war!”
On Feb. 28, the United States and Israel attacked Iran and has since escalated into a regional war with severe global economic and humanitarian ramifications. The ongoing conflict in the Middle East is seen by many Americans as a “war that no one asked for,” one sign read. Dr. Joanna Eleftheriou of the CNU English Department, who was in attendance at the protest, raised concerns about the war’s economic impact.
Eleftheriou spoke to The Captain’s Log, asking if American people and people all over the world who are not shareholders in defense industries are worse off while people who are profiting from war are better off after this war, then “Is it really a war between countries, or is it a war of rich people against poor people?”
In addition to the Epstein Files and the war in Iran, Newport News protesters also stood in protest against the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement tactics that resulted in the civilian deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti in January. ICE’s removal tactics
have fostered fear in communities and distrust in law enforcement, primarily due to the fact that ICE agents under the Trump administration frequently operate in unmarked vehicles.
These demonstrations present a unique opportunity to Newport News citizens to rally with community members and speak directly to their representatives about their concerns. Mayor Phillip Jones attended Saturday’s protest and could be seen posing for pictures and speaking with Peninsula Indivisible organizers and attendees.
While No Kings Day is primarily a day of protest, organizers have expressed an increased effort to build community that will continue long after the single day. In a Mar. 12 newsletter sent by the No Kings coalition, organizers asserted that No Kings Day serves as a reminder that “Joy and community are resistance in this moment.”
Communities across Virginia hosted sign-making parties in order to encourage people in their communities, whether first-time protesters or seasoned marchers, to come together and build joy and community before the day of the demonstration.
As the protest continued to expand along Jefferson Avenue, protesters held steady grips on their signs during the windy morning into the afternoon, with the steady roar of cars honking in support serving as consistent background noise.
The honking was mixed in with the sounds of music playing and different chants in various subsections of the demonstration, the most prominent chant being a call and response: “Tell me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!”
