While President Trump rang in his 79th birthday with a military parade in Washington D.C. Saturday, Eugeneans joined the national “No Kings” day protests.
Their criticisms of Trump hit multiple fronts.
As people chanted “No more kings!”, speakers at the Wayne Morse Federal Courthouse shared their concerns and outrage over many issues that have become headlines since Trump began his second term.
The latest rounds of condemnation surround the president’s deployment of roughly 3,000 troops to Los Angeles to quell mostly peaceful demonstrations against ICE raids. And Trump’s more than 160 executive orders - as well as Saturday’s parade of tanks and troops through the nation’s capital, estimated to cost up to $45 million - have also fired up critics.
Gary Jones of Springfield stood near the federal courthouse and held a sign that said “Republic YES” on one side, and “Monarchy NO” on the other.
“We went through a revolution to eliminate King George’s Dictatorial power over the United States, and we don’t want to go back.”
Jones said he didn’t knock celebrating birthdays or the nation’s military under the right circumstances, but felt that the president was misusing the soldiers and armored vehicles.
“He’s borrowing something he doesn’t own,” said Jones.
Another protester, M.B. Barlow of Eugene, showed up in a rainbow wig and red nose. But she told KLCC that Trump and his cabinet are no laughing matter.
“Toss out the clowns, these clowns aren’t funny," she said. "No grounding in any principles except for self-aggrandizement. And it’s corrosive to our system.”
Among those marching through the streets was Carole Chavous of Springfield. She held up a depiction of the president as a pole dancer, clad in fishnet stockings and star-spangled bikini.
“What inspired me is that he has a meme coin called Trump, but when you put the dollar sign in front of it, it says ‘$Trump’ and so ‘strumpet’ came to mind,” laughed Chavous. “I feel that he takes money, and it’s transactional, and in some ways that’s what I’m symbolizing by the stripper on the pole.”
While many marchers decried Trump’s crackdown on immigrants and deployment of the National Guard and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles, other signs and flags brought up Palestine, the war in Ukraine, transgender rights, and the preservation of democracy.
The anti-Trump organization, 50501, organized Eugene’s march, while the Activist Coalition of Eugene-Springfield (ACES) organized the rally.
Ahead of the “No Kings” event, Trump told reporters that he didn’t see himself as a king, and had to quote “go through hell to get stuff approved.”
Copyright 2025, KLCC.
