Tens of thousands of people gathered in Portland on Saturday as part of the “No Kings” demonstrations that were being held across the country to protest President Donald Trump’s aggressive exercise of executive power.
Demonstrations were held in more than 50 cities across Oregon. The one starting at Portland’s Tom McCall Waterfront Park was the largest, and Portland officers who were monitoring said it attracted at least 40,000 people.
It began with speeches and continued with a march of about 2 miles through downtown and across the Hawthorne and Morrison bridges.
Thousands of people, including people playing drums and other percussion instruments, started at the Oregon Convention Center and marched across the lower deck of the Steel Bridge before noon to the waterfront rally, while another group marched across the Hawthorne Bridge and a third came from Pioneer Courthouse Square.
Portland police warned at about 11:20 a.m. that traffic would impacted in all these areas “for a bit.”
At about 12:20 p.m., police announced they were closing the Morrison Bridge. At about 1 p.m., they closed the Hawthorne Bridge.
Several thousand people, many in inflatable costumes, were gathered at Tom McCall Waterfront Park by noon.
Multiple Portland city councilors took the stage prior to the march to condemn the federal government’s actions and encourage Portlanders to continue protesting peacefully. “We need advocates like you to play the outside game,” said Angelita Morillo, whose district includes inner Southeast Portland. “What we are seeing in this moment is unprecedented in terms of horrors, but it’s also unprecedented in terms of unity.”
Dressed in matching banana suits, members of the Unpresidented Brass Band — who had a musician detained by federal agents Sunday outside of the ICE building in South Portland — were among the protesters on the waterfront. Band director Miles Thompson, 43, said that they were meeting up with the Portland Frog Brigade.
“We’ll be frogs and bananas, and I’m like over the moon. This is awesome,” he said.
Mary Bycroft, who said she has lived in Portland for more than 40 years, attended Saturday’s protest because of what she described as an infringement of rights by the federal government.
“I am honestly shocked and frightened by what’s happening to our country,” she said of Trump’s effort to slash federal programs and take legal actions against his political enemies.
Bycroft said recent efforts by the White House to deploy federal troops into Portland have relied on a false narrative about the city, which she described as “amazing, uplifting and beautiful.”
“Honestly, it’s ridiculous that anybody would believe the lies, saying this is a hell hole,” Bycroft said. “It’s a wonderful city. I love living here.”
Sisters Berenice and Perla Arias, ages 17 and 14, were dressed as SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star. “We are protesting for the future. We are the next generation. We got the inflatables to keep Portland weird and make Trump look like a fool,” Berenice Arias said.
The crowd began marching down Southwest Pine Street at about 1 p.m.
A group of about a dozen counter-protesters at the front of the march chanting various pro-Trump slogans were met by a crowd chanting “Don’t take the bait,” in response.
River Montijo of the Portland Raging Grannies, who have been attending a lot of recent protests, said she was happy with the turnout but was concerned that some people stayed home because of the negative national press coverage of Portland. “Portland knows how to do these things with love and joy. We’re not gonna let them pull us into hatred,” she said.
Drag queen Saint Syndrome, also known as the Piano Queen, performed on the waterfront before joining the march by riding in a convertible dressed as Lady Justice. “I hope to get Portland some great visibility. I know all eyes are on us and I would love for the world to see that we are having fun and joyfully standing up against an authoritarianism,” she said.
At about 2:15 p.m., the front of the march was crossing the Morrison Bridge and began arriving back at the waterfront, but many people will still on the Hawthorne Bridge on their way to the east side of the route.
At about 3:30 p.m., police said the tail end of the march had made it to Southeast Grand Avenue and they were reopening the Hawthorne Bridge to traffic.
The protests come against the backdrop of a government shutdown in its 18th day that not only has closed federal programs and services, but is testing the core balance of power as an aggressive executive confronts Congress and the courts in ways that organizers warn are a slide toward American authoritarianism.
Hundreds gather in Strongsville, Ohio, for the No Kings rally, Oct. 18, 2025.John Kuntz, cleveland.com
Demonstrators packed places like New York City’s Times Square, the historic Boston Commons, Chicago’s Grant Park, Washington, D.C., and hundreds of smaller public spaces. Some of them showed up in inflatable frog costumes, which have emerged as a sign of resistance in Portland.
“They say they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” Trump said in a Fox News interview airing early Friday, before he departed for a $1 million-per-plate MAGA Inc. super PAC fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago in Friday. Protests were expected nearby Saturday.
Oregonian/OregonLive reporter Julia Silverman and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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