'I am not a king': Trump's quirky response to 'No Kings' protests goes viral as massive demonstrations hit US

President Donald Trump has insisted he's not a king ahead of nationwide No Kings protests planned for Saturday. "No King" protests are set to take place across the country on Saturday in a mass demonstration against his administration.

The president told Fox Business, “They're referring to me as a king. I'm not a king,” in an interview clip released Friday. He insisted the ongoing government shutdown gives him power to unilaterally cut federal programs. Republicans have called the protests “Hate America” rallies.

Trump reacts to "No Kings" protests

"They're referring to me as a king. I'm not a king," Trump told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo in an interview clip released Friday. Trump added that Democrats could stay out of the government "forever," so that the president could continue cutting "Democrat" priorities, such as welfare programs.


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"They made one mistake, they didn't realize that. That gives me the right to cut programs that Republicans never wanted. We're doing that, and we're cutting them permanently." Article I of the Constitution gives Congress — not the president — the power to set government spending priorities.

Over 2,500 No Kings events are planned across all 50 states this Saturday, sponsored by groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union, American Federation of Teachers, 50501, Human Rights Campaign, Indivisible and MoveOn.

Trump — who previously claimed he’d be a “dictator” only on “day one” if reelected — rejected accusations of acting like one earlier this year after deploying National Guard troops to several Democratic-led cities without local approval. “I don’t like a dictator. I’m not a dictator. I’m a man with great common sense — a smart person,” he said.

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'No Kings' protest

Meanwhile, the official White House X account faced widespread backlash in February after sharing a doctored image of the president on a parody Time magazine cover, wearing a crown beneath the caption “LONG LIVE THE KING!”

Thousands of “No Kings” rallies are taking place nationwide on Saturday against President Trump and his policies. Defiant Democrats have embraced this weekend’s protests, while GOP lawmakers bash the protests as “hate America” demonstrations.

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“Showing up to express dissent against an out-of-control administration, that’s as American as motherhood, baseball and apple pie,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Friday.

Saturday’s protests follow a series of June marches that coincided with the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary military parade in Washington, D.C., which also happened to be Trump’s 79th birthday. The rallies are taking place amidst the government shutdown as well federal troop deployments across the country.