President Trump rejected claims he acts like a monarch in a Fox News interview recorded the same day millions of Americans protested his administration. The interview took place on Saturday, hours before the nationwide demonstrations began.
Trump denies monarch comparison
According to The Hill, Trump told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo during the Sunday Morning Futures interview that critics are wrong. They refer to me as a king, he said. I am not a king.
The president made these remarks before roughly 2,600 demonstrations took place across all 50 states. The protests drew crowds in small towns and major cities including New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. This marked the second set of No Kings protests since Trump took office.
Political leaders join demonstrations
Democratic lawmakers joined the activists at many events. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker both participated in the demonstrations. Republicans largely backed Trump and criticized the protests.
President posts AI video targeting protesters
Trump shared an AI-generated video on Truth Social late Saturday. The video showed him wearing a crown while flying a fighter jet labeled King Trump. He dumps brown liquid on New York City protesters in the video while the song Danger Zone plays.
The protests occurred during the ongoing government shutdown that started on October 1. A poll released Thursday by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 75 percent of respondents blame Trump either greatly or moderately for the shutdown. Roughly three-quarters also said Republicans and Democrats in Congress are greatly or moderately at fault.
Trump told Fox News his administration is cutting Democrat programs that Republicans never wanted. We are cutting giveaways and welfare programs, he said. The president also discussed deploying National Guard troops to cities across the country. His administration has sent military personnel to Los Angeles, Washington, and Memphis. Legal challenges have blocked deployments to Chicago and Portland.
Trump said he plans to send troops to San Francisco next. He claimed the city wants the National Guard presence. San Francisco was truly one of the great cities of the world, Trump said. Then 15 years ago it went wrong.
