'No Kings' protests this weekend: What to know

Thousands of Americans are expected to take to the streets on Saturday during the next "No Kings Day" to protest the actions of President Trump and his administration.

The protests follow a series of nationwide No Kings marches that took place on June 14. Those marches coincided with the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary military parade in Washington, D.C., which was held on Trump's 79th birthday.

How many protests are scheduled this weekend?

Around 2,000 demonstrations are expected to be held across the country on Saturday, according to a post from the group Indivisible. These demonstrations will stretch from Los Angeles to Boston and include other major cities such as New York City; Chicago; Kansas City, Mo.; Atlanta; Philadelphia; Miami and New Orleans.

Protests will be held in all 50 states, organizers said on their website.

No Kings protests are also expected to be held outside of the United States in Canada and Mexico.

What's different this time?

One major difference between the previous No Kings Day and the upcoming one is the presence of demonstrators expected in Washington, D.C. Protesters were not previously in the nation's capital after Trump said anyone protesting against the military parade would be met with “very big force.”

Saturday's protest in Washington is expected to be held outside the U.S. Capitol building.

Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, one of the organizers, also told USA Today that protesters' motivations are different this time.

“The anger level is way higher," Gilbert said. "It’s not just policies we don’t like, but it’s also actual chipping away at democracy, at foundational rights and prerogatives that we all expect.”

What are party leaders saying about the protests?

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Thursday that he would join the marchers this weekend.

"I don't care if you're Democrat, Republican, independent, moderate, conservative," Schumer said on the floor of the Senate. "The majority of Americans want to defend this democracy. 'No Kings' says that in a very strong way, that we don't want kings."

"Do not let Donald Trump intimidate you into silence," Schumer said.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), meanwhile, criticized the "No Kings" protest by dubbing it a "hate America rally."

Other Republican leaders, including House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (La.) and House GOP Whip Tom Emmer (Minn.) have used the same name to describe the No Kings protests.

How has Trump reacted?

"I hear very few people are going to be there, by the way," Trump told reporters from the Oval Office on Wednesday. "But they have their day coming up and they want to have their day in the sun."

Originally published on Oct. 11