Politics
Millions angry with Trump expected to fill American streets
MINNEAPOLIS: Massive nationwide protests against US President Donald Trump are expected Saturday as millions of people vent fury over what they see as his authoritarian bent and other forms of cruel, law-trampling governance.
It is the third time in less than a year that Americans will take to the streets as part of a grassroots movement called “No Kings,” the most vocal and visual conduit for opposition to Trump since he began his second term in January 2025.
And now they have something new to fume over — the war in Iran that Trump launched alongside Israel, with ever-shifting goals and timelines for completion.
The first such nationwide protest day came in June on Trump’s 79th birthday and coincided with a military parade in Washington that he insisted on holding.
Several million people turned out, from New York to San Francisco and many places in between.
The second “No Kings” day in October drew an estimated seven million protesters, according to organisers.
The goal now is to bring out even more people on Saturday, as Trump’s approval rating is low at around 40% and midterm elections loom in November, when Trump’s Republicans could lose control of both chambers.
Just as Trump is worshipped by many in his “Make America Great Again” movement, on the other side of America’s wide political chasm, he is disliked or even loathed with equal passion.
Trump foes bemoan his penchant for ruling by executive decree, his use of the Justice Department to prosecute opponents, his embrace of fossil fuels and climate change denial even as the planet warms, his fight against racial and gender diversity programs, and his newfound taste for flexing US military power after campaigning as a man of peace.
“Since the last time we marched, this administration has dragged us deeper into war,” said Naveed Shah of Common Defence, a veterans association that belongs to the “No Kings” movement.
“At home, we’ve watched citizens killed in the streets by militarised forces. We’ve seen families torn apart and immigrant communities targeted. All of it done in the name of one man trying to rule like a king,” Shah said.
Springsteen in Minneapolis
Organisers say more than 3,000 rallies are planned, an increase from the last protest day, in major cities coast to coast and in suburbs and rural areas — even in the Alaskan town of Kotzebue, above the Arctic circle.
Minnesota will be a key focal point, returning to the limelight months after becoming ground zero for the national debate over Trump’s violent immigration crackdown.
Legendary rocker Bruce Springsteen, a fierce critic of the president, is scheduled to perform in St Paul, the capital of the northern state, his song “Streets of Minneapolis.”
It is a ballad he wrote and recorded in the space of 24 hours in memory of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Americans shot and killed by federal agents during protests in frigid January weather against Trump´s immigration offensive.
“Masked secret police terrorising our communities. An illegal, catastrophic war putting us in danger and driving up our costs. Attacks on our freedom of speech, our civil rights, our freedom to vote. Costs pushing families to the brink. Trump wants to rule over us as a tyrant,” the “No Kings” movement said.
It said what began in 2025 as a simple day of defiance has mushroomed into a powerful movement of national resistance to the Trump administration.
Organisers say two-thirds of those who plan to rally Saturday do not live in big cities, which in America are often Democratic strongholds — a data point that is up sharply since the last protest.
“America is at an inflection point,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.
“People are afraid, and they can’t afford basic necessities. It’s time the administration listened and helped them build a better life rather than stoking hate and fear.”
US-Israeli strikes on Iran have martyred several senior political and military figures, hitting the Islamic Republic’s core leadership as the regional war disrupts energy markets and global shipping.
Below are some of the most prominent figures killed:
Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who as Supreme Leader since 1989 built an iron grip over Iran while entrenching hostility towards the US and Israel, was martyred aged 86 in a US-Israeli air strike on his compound on February 28.
His more than three-decade rule was marked by consolidation of power through the security apparatus, and expansion of Iran’s regional influence, even as tensions over its nuclear programme repeatedly brought it into confrontation with the West.
Senior officials
Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and a veteran powerbroker, was assassinated at 67 in a US-Israeli air strike in the Pardis area on March 17, along with his son and one of his deputies, Iranian media reported.
A former Revolutionary Guards commander and nuclear negotiator, he was a close adviser to the slain Supreme Leader and played an important role in shaping Iran’s security and foreign policy.
Esmail Khatib, Iran’s intelligence minister, was eliminated in an Israeli strike on March 18. A hardliner cleric and politician, he worked in Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s office and was mentored by him, before heading the civilian intelligence apparatus in August 2021.
Ali Shamkhani, a close adviser to Khamenei and a key figure in Iran’s security and nuclear policymaking, was cut down in US-Israeli strikes on Tehran on February 28.
He had earlier survived an attack on his home during the 12-day June war between Israel and Iran.
Top military commanders
Mohammad Pakpour, commander-in-chief of the IRGC, Iran’s most powerful military force, was assassinated in the February 28 strikes in Tehran, Iranian state media said.
He rose through the ranks to lead the Revolutionary Guards after his predecessor Hossein Salami was eliminated in the 12-day war in June.
Aziz Nasirzadeh, Iran’s defence minister and a career air force officer, was martyred in the same wave of strikes targeting senior leadership in Tehran on February 28, according to sources. He played a key role in military planning and defence policy.
Abdolrahim Mousavi, chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, was assassinated in the February 28 strikes during what Iranian media said was a meeting of senior leadership in Tehran. He was responsible for coordinating Iran’s military branches and overseeing conventional forces.
Gholamreza Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Basij paramilitary force, was eliminated in US-Israeli strikes on March 17, according to Iranian state media. A senior Revolutionary Guards officer, he led the force central to internal security and the enforcement of state authority.
Behnam Rezaei, the Revolutionary Guards’ navy intelligence chief, was martyred in an Israeli strike in the port city of Bandar Abbas on March 26, according to the Israeli military, which said he was responsible for collecting information on regional countries.
- Trump reiterates claims Tehran ready to make deal.
- Talks ongoing to negotiate end to month-long war: Trump.
- “Tehran’s leadership, nuclear programme suffered damage.”
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Friday insisted Iran must open up the Strait of Hormuz to oil traffic to make a peace deal — and dubbed the crucial waterway the “Strait of Trump.”
Trump, who has renamed several buildings in Washington after himself during his second term, said his comment was a “mistake” but then added that “there’s no accidents with me.”
Repeating his claims that Tehran is ready to make a deal despite its denials, the 79-year-old US leader said that talks were underway to negotiate an end to the month-long conflict.
Trump added that Iran was “on the run” and reiterated assertions that Tehran’s leadership, navy, air force and nuclear programme had all suffered significant damage.
“We’re negotiating now, and it would be great if we could do something, but they have to open it up,” Trump told a Saudi-backed FII Priority investment forum in Miami.
“They have to open up the Strait of Trump — I mean Hormuz. Excuse me, I’m so sorry. Such a terrible mistake.”
Trump said the media would pounce upon the comment, but then added “there’s no accidents with me, not too many.”
He also talked about how he had ordered the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” shortly after returning to power.
During a cabinet meeting on Thursday, Trump said it was “an option” to take control of Iran’s oil as the United States has effectively done with Venezuela — despite the fact that the war is still raging.
Republican Trump, who rose to fame as a property tycoon with his name plastered across his own skyscrapers, made similar teasing comments before renaming Washington’s Kennedy Centre the “Trump-Kennedy Centre.”
A peace institute in Washington was also renamed after Trump last year.
The Strait of Hormuz was open to international shipping before the conflict, but the narrow waterway has since ground to a standstill, leading to a surge in global energy prices.
Earlier Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced alarm that Iran would seek to establish a permanent “tolling system” for vessels in the strait, through which one-fifth of global oil normally transits.
WASHINGTON: Bank of America has agreed to pay $72.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that the bank facilitated a sex trafficking ring orchestrated by Jeffrey Epstein, court documents showed Friday.
Bank of America said separately that while it continued to deny supporting Epstein’s crimes, “this resolution allows us to put this matter behind us and provides further closure for the plaintiffs.”
The suit, filed by an unidentified woman on behalf of herself and other alleged victims, claimed the bank’s executives “ignored red flags” about Epstein’s sex trafficking venture to provide him with banking and investment services.
The settlement, if approved in court, would avoid a potentially lengthy trial process and was deemed to be in the “best interests” of the plaintiffs.
It was the latest bank to settle lawsuits from Epstein’s alleged victims, after a $75 million agreement by JP Morgan and a reported $75 million payment by Deutsche Bank, both in 2023.
Epstein, a billionaire hedge fund manager with a bevy of powerful and celebrity friends, was charged with sex trafficking of minors after being arrested in July 2019.
He had already been convicted in 2008 of soliciting sex from girls as young as 14.
Epstein committed suicide while being held at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Centre in August 2019.
His case has remained politically charged, with continuing disputes over the release of investigative records and the extent of his network.
The US Justice Department’s release of millions of files related to prosecutors’ investigations of Epstein in recent months has embroiled several high-profile executives and politicians.
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