Donald Trump the Megathread part II - Mod Warning updated in OP 12/2/26

I don't think the object is to influence Trump directly. It's to influence those who enable him — to bring home to those in Congress and at other levels of government that there will be price to be paid for association with, or support for, or simply passivity in the face of, Trump. As you point out, the Republican party "isn't going to listen to protests in cities by people who aren't likely to vote for them anyway", but a lot of the protests that take place in Democratic cities include protestors from the Republican suburbs and dormitory towns that surround them, and Republican representatives will be hearing a similar sentiment from voters at town hall meetings and other engagement processes. If seats in state government and state legislatures start flipping from red to blue, this isn't something separate and apart from the "No Kings" protests; they are two sides of the one coin.

I think the two things reinforce one another. The "No Kings" marches will underline the strength of feeling that underpins the sentiments that they are (presumably) hearing in their own interactions with voters, and will indicate how widely those sentiments are shared. And, if the Republicans do experience a loss of votes/seats in the elections next month, the prominence and widespread nature of the protests means that this loss is likely to be attributed to the issues than underlie the protests, and correspondingly to be attributed less to other issues.

Sure, if the marches happen and then the Republicans are returned triumphant at every level in the elections, the marches will have no effect on the Republican party. But if the Republicans do poorly in the elections, then the marches will be very influential in shaping their understanding of why they have done poorly, and their thinking about what they have to do if they want to remedy the situation.

(Plus, we mustn't overlook the other primary function of these (and most) protests and demonstrations, which is to give encouragement and maintain momentum and enthusiasm for the movement that the protests represents. Trump opponents who have collaborated to organise these protests now have a network, connections, etc through which other endeavours — voter registration, election campaigning, lobbying, acts of civil disobedience, whatever — can be organised. Citizens who have made the emotional commitment of attending one of these protests will be more likely to respond favourably to, or participate in, other intitiatives to oppose Trump and his allies.)

These are the people that the military should appparently “respect the office” for. It’s a **** joke of a country

IMO the Budapest location is even more PROFOUNDLY SYMBOLIC as a location than ALASKA was from so many ‘angles’. That Levitte lady is a ‘waste of space’ . She is sooooo obnoxious. She knew exactly what she was asked and gave a typical Trumpian answer and knows that it will stick with the MaGA followers. What a deflection of a response