The official X account for the New York Police Department announced on Saturday that authorities made "zero protest-related arrests" at the local "No Kings" protests.
Some analysts have hailed this weekend's pro-democracy protests as the largest on record, but others, such as political dynasty Meghan McCain, the daughter of the late GOP presidential candidate John McCain, do not understand the point.
One big fear was that in big cities, such protests could result in arrests or even violence.
But in New York that wasn't a problem, according to NYPD News.
"The majority of the No Kings protests have dispersed at this time and all traffic closures have been lifted," the account wrote. "We had more than 100,000 people across all five boroughs peacefully exercising their first amendment rights and the NYPD made zero protest-related arrests."
Meghan McCain came under fire on Saturday after she made an unpopular comment about the "No Kings" protests.
Some analysts have hailed this weekend's pro-democracy protests as the largest on record, but political dynasty McCain, the daughter of the late GOP presidential candidate John McCain, does not understand the point.
"I don’t understand how Trump is a King when he won every single swing state, the electoral college and popular vote in a democratic election," McCain wrote on X Saturday.
That led to immediate responses from various high-profile political insiders.
Atlantic writer Jonathan Chait asked the commentator, "Is it your view that literally nothing a freely elected president does in office can be anti democratic?"
GOP pollster Mike Madrid said, "Your father had the courage to speak out against this."
The popular Nerds for Humanity account told McCain that "winning fair and square doesn't make overreach okay."
The account added, "Critics aren't calling him king for the vote, they're worried about power grabs like these: -Issuing an EO to end birthright citizenship, defying the 14th Amendment. -Firing 17+ inspectors general without the required 30-day notice to Congress, gutting independent oversight. -Invoking the Alien Enemies Act for mass deportations, a wartime power twisted for peacetime crackdowns. -Freezing congressionally approved federal funds, usurping lawmakers' purse strings. -Directing agencies to rewrite election rules with voter barriers, invading Congress's turf. Make sense?"
Former GOP staffer Drew McDowell said, "Meghan McCain is doing her best to blow up her father’s legacy."
"John McCain would be speaking at a No Kings rally today," he added on Saturday.
One attorney, Christine Jones, pushed back on those bringing up Meghan McCain's father.
"Why does every Meghan post bring out the 'your dad would have…' crowd, mostly people who never even met him?" she asked Saturday. "I knew John McCain fairly well, and I’d never presume to know how he’d react to any of Meghan’s posts. The compulsion to drag him into every conversation is just bizarre."
It's that report that baffled political and international law experts.
Conservative attorney and anti-Trump activist George Conway said Saturday, "This is essentially a confession by administration that it committed murder."
Immigration policy expert Aaron Reichlin-Melnick chimed in: "So the people on these boats are 'terrorists' who can be killed without any due process, but if they don’t die in the initial strike, they just get released and go home with a warning? Seriously?"
Former Obama staffer Tommy Vietor said, "So the administration's argument is that these men are dangerous narco-terrorists waging war against the US and thus deserved to be executed, but also that the US should send them home rather than to try prosecute them in court. Makes sense."
Political science professor Christopher Clary also added, "Enough evidence to try and kill them but not enough evidence to prosecute… what are we doing here exactly?"
Political attorney Robert Kelner also weighed in, saying, "This makes no sense, if we are supposed to believe this was a drug trafficking ship and the attack on the ship was legal."
"If that were so, why wouldn’t we detain the evil drug traffickers and prosecute them?" Kelner asked. "Congress needs to exercise its oversight authority. And reporters need to dig into this story."
Donald Trump's administration took a "sharp break" from its typical handling of military strike cases by choosing not to prosecute two survivors of an attack on a foreign suspected drug smuggling boat, according to the New York Times.
Trump over the weekend took the time to brag about the military strike, saying it was an "honor" while announcing that two were killed in the strike. The Times also released a report focusing on the two survivors, who were not arrested.
"The Trump administration has decided to repatriate two survivors of a deadly U.S. strike this week on suspected drug runners in the Caribbean Sea rather than prosecute them or hold them in military detention, people with knowledge of the matter said on Saturday," according to the report. "The men who survived were being returned to their home countries, Colombia and Ecuador, the people with knowledge of the matter said. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operational and diplomatic matters. It was not clear if the government of either nation would prosecute the men upon their return, or simply release them."
The report continues:
"President Trump has previously described people aboard suspected drug-smuggling boats, which the United States has targeted in several deadly airstrikes since early September, as 'unlawful combatants.' He has claimed the authority, widely disputed by legal experts, to summarily kill such suspects in military strikes as if they were enemy soldiers in a war."
According to the Times report, the move "was a sharp break from the traditional handling of maritime smuggling, in which the Coast Guard would intercept boats and arrest people if suspicions proved accurate."
Donald Trump bragged on Saturday about a mission in which he says the government destroyed "a very large drug-carrying submarine."
The president took to Truth Social over the weekend to celebrate the mission.
"It was my great honor to destroy a very large DRUG-CARRYING SUBMARINE that was navigating towards the United States on a well known narcotrafficking transit route. U.S. Intelligence confirmed this vessel was loaded up with mostly Fentanyl, and other illegal narcotics," Trump claimed. "There were four known narcoterrorists on board the vessel. Two of the terrorists were killed."
Trump went on to proclaim, without providing evidence, that, "At least 25,000 Americans would die if I allowed this submarine to come ashore."
"The two surviving terrorists are being returned to their Countries of origin, Ecuador and Colombia, for detention and prosecution. No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike," he then added. "Under my watch, the United States of America will not tolerate narcoterrorists trafficking illegal drugs, by land or by sea. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
Following Friday’s revelation that Jeffrey Epstein had a close personal relationship with the prosecutor behind his 2007 “sweetheart” plea deal, former Justice Department attorney Brendan Ballou cast doubt on the likelihood of further legal action in the case, citing in part the Trump administration’s reluctance to release its cache of Epstein files.
On Friday, the House Oversight Committee released another trove of Epstein documents, among them being emails that revealed that Epstein had a close relationship with former federal prosecutor Matthew Menchel, that included a ski trip sometime in the 2000s and multiple meetings and dinners from 2011 to 2017, according to a report from the Miami Herald.
Epstein’s plea deal allowed him to plead guilty to just one count of prostitution and serve 18 months in prison, while being allowed to leave prison on work release for up to 12 hours a day. This plea deal was afforded to Epstein despite the FBI having identified at least 40 potential minor victims in his case.
Appearing on MSNBC Saturday, Ballou was asked whether he saw any room for legal action following the revelation, to which he said “probably not, bluntly.”
“The information revealed doesn't show that there is – at least, based on the initial review – anything actionable against him, and obviously prosecutors are afforded really broad discretion in their decisions about how to prosecute or who not to prosecute here,” Ballou said.
Still, Ballou suggested that even if new evidence emerged showing unethical or illegal coordination between prosecutors and Epstein, any effort to hold those involved accountable would likely be blocked by the Trump administration, which he said has shown “no interest” in releasing additional Epstein files.
“The challenge that I think any victim has, that any potential plaintiff has is that it's the Department of Justice in this administration that holds the vast trove of investigation material from this case, but they have absolutely no interest in revealing that information, so it's going to be very hard for these folks to get that.”
William Nye, better known as the host of the hit educational show “Bill Nye the Science Guy,” was confronted Saturday by a correspondent for right-wing influencer Laura Loomer, who hurled a barrage of questions that Nye largely shrugged off.
Nye spoke Saturday at the ongoing “No Kings” protest in Washington, D.C., part of a series of anti-Trump protests expected to be attended by millions. Confronted while walking away from the Capitol, Nye was approached by Loomer Unleashed correspondent Charles Downs, who immediately started questioning Nye, and issued him a new nickname.
“Would calling you 'Bill Nye the Political Science Guy' be a better nickname since you're speaking at this political No Kings protest?” Downs is heard saying in a video posted by Loomer, a self-proclaimed “proud Islamaphobe.”
“I think the phrase you're looking for is 'no comment,’” Nye responded. “I don't know why you made that up.”
Following Nye as he walked, Downs continued to reference Nye by the new nickname; “That’s what you think,” Nye said as he continued walking.
“Do you like that nickname?” Downs asked.
“Carry on,” Nye said as he began ignoring Downs.
“And you donated to Kamala, right?” Downs shouted at Nye as he began to walk further away. “So not very authentic Mr. Nye. Kind of disappointed, I watched you growing up, you're kind of a let down!”
Nye has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump in the past, particularly on his remarks denying climate change, once stating “with as much respect as I can muster, the president doesn’t seem to want to keep a thought in his head for very long.”
The No Kings protests may very well end up being the single-largest protest in American history, at least according to former Republican lawmaker Joe Walsh, with around 2,700 separate No Kings protests taking place across the nation.
The Department of Homeland Security has acquired two luxury jets at a cost of $172 million to be used by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and other top agency officials, new documents reviewed by The New York Times revealed Saturday.
According to the documents, the two jets are used Gulfstream G700s, which its manufacturer touts as having the “most spacious cabin in the industry." They seat up to 13 passengers, include a “whisper-quiet cabin with 100% fresh, plasma-ionized air” and the largest windows “in business aviation.”
A DHS spokesperson told the Times in its report Saturday that the purchase was made as “a matter of safety” given that the agency’s existing jet was “well beyond operational usage hours for a corporate aircraft.”
For two Democratic lawmakers, however, the purchase was inappropriate, particularly amid the ongoing government shutdown, and without transparency around where the funding had come from.
“In addition to raising serious questions about your ability to effectively lead an agency whose procurement strategies appear to vary on a whim, the procurement of new luxury jets for your use suggests that the [United States Coast Guard] has been directed to prioritize your own comfort above the U.S.C.G.’s operational needs, even during a government shutdown,” reads a letter sent to Noem and signed by Reps. Rosa DeLaura (D-CT) and Lauren Underwood (D-IL).
“We are deeply concerned about your judgment, leadership priorities, and responsibility as a steward of taxpayer dollars.”
The two lawmakers go on in the letter to demand more information of the purchase, including the timeline for the jets’ delivery, the source of funding for the purchase, and the names of those who reviewed or approved the purchase.
“Indeed, from choosing to live rent-free in the Commandant’s quarters, to defending Mr. Lewandowski’s refusal to provide basic information about his special government employeestatus, to your frequent appearances at ongoing operations which require a diversion of resources to focus on your security, it appears you are routinely prioritizing yourself and those closest to you over the needs of the USCG servicemembers who protect this nation,” the letter reads.
Republican strategist Tim Parrish struggled to defend President Donald Trump’s military strikes on suspected drug trafficking boats Saturday after being confronted with facts from CNN’s Abby Phillip that flew in the face of the Trump administration’s purported rationale for the military campaign.
“Any family in this country who's lost someone to fentanyl use would absolutely agree with President Trump that we are, in fact, at war with the cartels, and they would appreciate the president taking every action he can to stop the flow of drugs into this country,” Parrish said during an appearance on CNN’s “Table for Five” Saturday.
Trump has ramped up attacks on suspected drug traffickers, announcing this week that another six people were killed after he ordered a strike on a sea vessel in the Caribbean Sea heading toward the United States. This follows other military strikes in the region ordered by Trump in what critics have condemned as amounting to murder.
The Trump administration’s rationale for the strikes is that Trump had designated drug cartels as foreign terrorists via an executive order, and therefore, the execution-style killings – without affording the suspected drug traffickers due process – is warranted, given that they pose an immediate threat to national security.
Phillip, however, accurately noted that Mexico is the overwhelming "dominant source” of fentanyl in the United States, the leading cause of overdose deaths in the nation in 2024.
“If Trump is saying we are in a war against the cartels to stop drug trafficking, that war with be with the Mexican cartels, not with fishermen coming on boats out of Venezuela, so I'm just asking for a real justification that I think we ought to ask for every president when they start dropping bombs around the world for what is the actual reason?” Phillip said.
“Do we actually know who these people are, do we know that they're even Venezuelans? Because some of them, reportedly, were from other countries, and when we start bombing citizens of other countries, we don't want other countries bombing our citizens in international waters, so what are the rules of engagement here?”
Parrish attempted to dismiss Phillip’s statement in arguing that Americans weren’t “bringing drugs from the United States into South America by boat.”
“On the Mexican border, the president has designated several Mexican drug cartels as a terrorist of our country, and there are special forces elements on the ground addressing those,” Parrish said.
“But we’re not bombing them!” Phillip fired back.
“Well, because that's a little bit of a different scenario when we talk about bombing right next door in Mexico,” Parrish said.
Former Republican Congressman Joe Walsh issued a grave warning that the Trump administration is planning to “incite” violence during Saturday’s “No Kings” protests, which he said he expected to be the “largest peaceful protest in American history.”
“Trump and his people, they want violence, and they're going to try to incite it all day,” Walsh said Saturday, appearing on MSNBC’s morning show “The Weekend.” “Ain't gonna happen!”
There are around 2,700 No Kings protests expected to take place Saturday all across the country, and are a follow up to the previous No Kings protests held last summer, attended by as many as 6 million people, and sparked by opposition to President Donald Trump.
“We are going to see the largest – I mean the largest – peaceful protest in American history,” Walsh said. “People from all over the country coming together. We may disagree on a lot of issues, but everybody today is united in no kings; not here, not in America.”
The No Kings protests reportedly have Trump “really, really worried,” according to journalist Greg Sargent, a fear he argued was made evident by his party’s “coordinated” effort to smear the protesters as “terrorists.” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has labeled the impending demonstration as a “hate America rally,” and Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) called it a “Soros paid-for protest,” referencing the billionaire philanthropist George Soros, a common “bogeyman” for the GOP.
Walsh, who left Congress in 2013 and has since gone on to become a talk radio host, told MSNBC that the GOP’s smearing of the No King protests was a clear sign of the Trump administration’s growing fear of dissent among Americans, and the optics that such a large protest would have.
“What my former party is scared to death of – and some have told me this privately – is mammoth peaceful protests,” Walsh said. “That's what scares the heck out of them. What they want is violence, what they want is division – they don't want millions and millions of Americans united in defending democracy.”
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) was dragged online Friday into Saturday morning after voicing outrage over those mocking the recent fall of his Republican Senate colleague, with critics noting he had inadvertently admitted himself to “not be a decent person.”
On Thursday, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) fell to the ground at the Capitol in just the latest incident believed to be a sign of his waning health. Lee took to social media to condemn those mocking McConnell’s fall, declaring “no decent person should mock an 83 year old’s fall,” and that anyone “finding it amusing is hard to fathom.”
Critics, however, were quick to dredge up a social media post Lee had made less than three months ago back in July, where he mocked former President Joe Biden for tripping up the stairs to Air Force One.
“Is this you?” wrote Shannon Watts, author and founder of anti-gun violence organization Moms Demand Action, in a social media post on X Friday, alongside an image of Lee’s tweet mocking Biden’s fall.
“So to clarify, you're not a decent person,” wrote X user “MikeTheNavyGuy,” whose bio says they’re a veteran of the Royal Canadian Navy and has amassed more than 4,600 followers. “Glad you cleared that up.”
Lee was also dragged for another social media post of his in which he made a joke in reference to the fatal shooting of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband back in June, writing “Nightmare on Waltz Street,” a likely reference to the 1984 film “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz.
While Lee ultimately deleted the post amid scrutiny, online critics were quick to share archived versions of the social media post to mock his newfound and supposed disdain for making light of serious incidents.
“This you Mike Lee mocking an assassination?” wrote X user “RomyInMA,” who frequently shares criminal justice content, is followed by Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), and has amassed more than 4,100 followers. “Spare us your faux moral high ground.”
A spokesperson for Vice President JD Vance defended the Trump administration’s plan to fire artillery shells over a major California freeway on Saturday, the same day as the nationwide No Kings protests, and refuted concerns expressed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom as unfounded.
Newsom’s office first received reports earlier this week that Marines at Camp Pendleton near San Diego were planning to fire artillery shells Saturday in a training exercise, and as part of a celebration of the Marine Corps’ 250th birthday, as reported by The Los Angeles Times on Wednesday. At the time, Newsom said the unconfirmed reports, if true, were not “the right way to go about” honoring the Marines’ anniversary.
The New York Times confirmed the reports to be accurate on Saturday, and in a statement to the outlet, Newsom condemned the plan as a “profoundly absurd show of force that could put Californians directly in harm’s way.”
“Using our military to intimidate people you disagree with isn’t strength – it’s reckless, it’s disrespectful, and it’s beneath the office the president holds,” Newsom told the Times.
William Martin, Vance’s communications director, however, fired back at Newsom over his concerns, and invited the California governor to try and oppose the military exercise.
“Gavin Newsom wants people to think this exercise is dangerous; the Marine Corps says it’s an established and safe practice,” Martin said in a statement as reported by the Times Saturday.
“Newsom wants people to think this is an absurd show of force. The Marine Corps says it’s part of routine training at Camp Pendleton. If Gavin Newsom wants to oppose the training exercises that ensure our Armed Forces are the deadliest and most lethal fighting force in the world, then he can go right ahead.”
The announcement has already led to a temporary suspension of airspace around Camp Pendleton, the Times reported, along with the passenger rail Amtrak cancelling rail services in the area on Saturday from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. Vance is expected to attend the event.
A number of Republican lawmakers are admitting that President Donald Trump’s foreign policy is drifting away from the “America first” mantra he’s frequently championed, according to a report Saturday from The Washington Post.
“This does seem to be a deviation from a pure ‘America First’ foreign policy,” said Sen. Todd Young (R-IN), speaking to the Post about Trump’s recent foreign policy decisions, which include approving a $20 billion bailout for Argentina, or launching targeted strikes on suspect drug cartels headed toward the United States.
Young went on to compare Trump’s recent foreign policy decisions to that of former President Barack Obama, saying Trump’s foreign policy was, “in some respects, an echo of a previous president who described his foreign policy as ‘don’t do stupid [stuff].’”
Young was not alone in describing Trump’s foreign policy as being antithetical to “America first.” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) expressed reservations over Trump’s bailout of Argentina, sparked by skyrocketing inflation and rising debts in the country following the election of its new president, Javier Milei, a strong ally to Trump.
“I’m not a huge fan of bailouts. Let’s see where that ends up. My gut reaction is always be skeptical,” Hawley said, speaking with the Post.
“We’re $2 trillion short this year, and the idea of sending $20 billion to another country when we’re short, when we’re facing a government shutdown, because we don’t have the resources for the people in our country, I think it’s a bad idea.”
And Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), another Trump ally, has outright rejected Trump’s use of the military to target suspected drug cartels, calling it a “terrible idea.”
“You can’t just blow up boats of people who you don’t even know their name,” Paul said on Thursday, speaking with members of the media, the Post reported. “In fact, you all should be asking the White House, what are their names and what is the proof that they were involved in this crime? They’re accused of something, we basically are summarily executing people who are accused of something. It’s a terrible idea.”
