Activists are set to protest against Donald Trump during his birthday celebrations.

The US president will be celebrating his 79th birthday on Saturday (14 June), the same day as a military parade in Washington DC, marking the army’s 250th anniversary.

Protestors, who believe the parade is more about Trump’s birthday, will march across the nation to condemn what organisers have claimed is an “authoritarian” level of overreach by the president since his inauguration in January.

Dubbed the No Kings campaign, the coast-to-coast movement aims to oppose the use of taxpayers’ money for a “self-aggrandising” military parade. The events are expected to cost up to $45 million (£33 million).

It is expected to be the biggest single-day protest since Trump returned to office, with millions of people in some 2,000 cities set to take part.

Organised by the 50501 group, the campaign was described as a “direct response” to the “authoritarianism, billionaire-first politics, and the militarisation of our democracy”. They staged a protest against Trump’s policies in February.

No protests will be taking place in the US capital where the military parade is set to take place, with the group saying it hoped to make their campaign the “story of America that day,” rather than the march-past.

Donald Trump ‘escalating tensions’ in the US, protest organisers warn

Since taking office, Trump has taken steps to restrict the civil rights of marginalised groups, including non-white, LGBTQ and immigrant communities.

Within in days of returning to the White House, he signed 26 executive orders that included calls to ban trans men and women from the armed forces. Earlier this week, he deployed the National Guard, and at least 700 marines, to suppress protests in Los Angeles against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportations of migrants.

More 400 people have been arrested in LA since protests began on Friday (6 June).

Organisers of the No Kings protests said Trump’s actions were “escalating tensions” and designed to “intimidate families, stoke fear and crush dissent”.

A spokesperson went on to say: “President Trump wants you to believe that the people of Los Angeles are destroying their own communities. That’s false.

“Here’s the truth: people are peacefully and lawfully protesting the administration’s abuses of power and the abduction of their neighbours by ICE.”

Trump defended his position again on Wednesday (11 June), claiming if he hadn’t taken action, LA “would be burning to the ground right now”. In addition, secretary of defence Pete Hegseth threatened to deploy troops nationwide “if necessary” while rallies continued across the US.

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