The No Kings Protests are a movement against the current U.S. President Donald Trump and the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement. These protests have occurred all around Florida, and the United States in general as a means of retaliation. This story chronicles several protests in St. Petersburg and Tampa.
The first No Kings Protest happened on July 14th, 2025, coinciding on Trump’s 76th birthday and the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary as well. These protests were named as such as many believed the policy changes and actions taken by President Trump were unlawful as a subject with no checks of power, i.e. a king.
Many of these protests contained MAGA members coming to disturb the peace of the protests and to get a reaction out of the many protesters present. Despite their attempts, the protests did not evolve into any sort of violent discourse.
Max Stubbs, a non-combat veteran, believes that the channels for communication between parties are so distorted with misinformation, ignorance, and prejudice that conversations amongst the people is almost impossible.
The second No Kings Protest occurred on October 10th, 2025. This time around, many more of the elderly started showing up, displaying the range of people affected by the many political issues present in the government. Also around this time, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) garnered much more of a reputation, especially in Florida, scaring many individuals from coming to these protests.
Cathy O’Gara was also afraid of I.C.E. involvement as tensions rose more and more around the time of the third protest on March 28th, 2026. Before the protest, Alex Pretti and RenĂ©e Good had been shot and killed by I.C.E. in Minneapolis, sparking nationwide backlash towards I.C.E. and to the U.S. government as a whole.
Though fear lingered throughout, with many believing I.C.E. would be taking action during the protests, many people still came to voice their opinion despite the ongoings of Trump’s presidency. It was also here that many of those opposing the No Kings movement did not appear in significant opposition at these protests.
The movement is still going as many hold the belief that the President has been unchecked in his power and he is to do as he pleases. The movement, which once started as entirely anti-Trump, has significantly snowballed into tackling many topics such as I.C.E., the U.S.’s engagement in the war on Iran and partnership with Israel, the lack of clarity in the Epstein files, and much more.
