No Kings

Today is June 14, a day that marks two distinct milestones in American history: Flag Day—commemorating the adoption of the Stars and Stripes in 1777—and what activists across the country are now calling “No Kings Day.” Protesters gathered nationwide in response to Donald Trump’s efforts to entrench his personal power, staging demonstrations that drew sharp contrast between the founding ideals of the United States and the authoritarian vision Trump now openly embraces.

Meanwhile, in Washington, the former president—now seeking an unprecedented third term—staged a self-congratulatory parade for his 79th birthday. In a grim irony, he featured military pageantry from the very Army created in 1775 to overthrow the British monarchy and secure our liberty from a king. Today, that same military was paraded not as a symbol of national unity or defense—but as a spectacle for one man’s ego.

Two years after the Army was formed, Congress adopted the American flag—a banner meant to represent freedom from tyranny, the triumph of constitutional governance, and the promise that we, the people, would never be ruled by a monarch again.

Trump, however, has made no secret of his contempt for these founding values. His campaign to undermine the Constitution has been deliberate and relentless. He’s floated the idea of ignoring term limits and declared that he “deserves” to serve beyond eight years, even though the 22nd Amendment says otherwise. He’s used the language of strongmen, not statesmen, and surrounded himself not with experts, but with sycophants who feed his delusions rather than offer counsel.

No clearer signal of danger exists than the departure of Yale professor Jason Stanley, a globally recognized scholar on authoritarianism and fascism. Stanley—an American patriot by any measure—left the U.S. for Canada earlier this year, stating bluntly that he could no longer remain in a country sliding into autocracy. “I wrote the book warning about this,” he said, “but I never expected to live through it here.”

Stanley’s departure reflects a broader chilling effect on intellectual freedom. Across the U.S., students have been arrested for peaceful protest, especially international students, who now fear deportation, surveillance, and visa revocation for political expression. University speech is being policed, faculty are being silenced, and dissent is increasingly met with state-backed punishment.

Trump has escalated a brutal policy of mass deportations, including sending people directly to foreign prisons without due process, without a trial, and without any criminal conviction. These are not people fleeing justice—they are people fleeing violence, persecution, or poverty, people who have been living, working, and contributing to communities in the U.S. for years, and people who pay more in federal taxes than Trump and his billionaire friends. Under Trump’s orders, they are being ripped from their homes and families and handed over to regimes that lock them up upon arrival, or shipped to war-torn countries they have never set foot in. This is not immigration enforcement—it is political persecution. It is state-sponsored exile and imprisonment, carried out in defiance of both American law and international human rights. It is ethnic cleansing disguised as national security.

Trump has also usurped Congressional powers by imposing sweeping tariffs on goods without legislative approval—actions that have destabilized global trade, raised costs for American consumers, and fractured key alliances. Economists warned, industries faltered, but Trump plowed ahead, guided by impulse rather than expertise. He doesn’t listen—not to advisors, not to legal scholars, and certainly not to the people.

The only consolation he gave to the American people in response to his impetuous and ignorance-fueled trade war, was “Only the weak will fail”—a cruel mantra coming from a man born into privilege, funded from birth by a million-dollar trust, and coddled through scandal after scandal by lawyers, donors, and enablers. He is not a self-made man. He is a billionaire in title, a tyrant in temperament, and a child in strategy—winging it, bluffing it, and dragging our institutions down with him.

Today is No Kings Day. A day to remember that our nation was founded not on obedience to a throne, but on a united campaign against tyranny. That the flag we fly today was born after we bravely said “NO” to monarchy. That the Army that Trump now exploits for vanity was created not to honor kings, but to dethrone them.

The truth is simple and urgent: Donald Trump wants to be king. And the American people must once again remind the world that WE WILL NOT BE RULED. We will not be silenced. And we will not forget what that flag stands for.

No kings. Not now. Not ever!