At least 100 protesters are gathering outside of the Freeman Coliseum on the East Side as President Donald Trump’s rally for Republican candidates gets underway.
The Bexar County Democratic Party, a local chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation and individual protesters set up across the street from the coliseum ahead of the 4:30 p.m. rally.
Protestors chant by East Houston Street outside of President Donald Trump’s visit at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026.
Katina Zentz/San Antonio Express-News
Protestors chant by East Houston Street while President Donald Trump speaks on a screen at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026.
Katina Zentz/San Antonio Express-News
Regina Ortiz holds a sign while riding a bicycle by protestors on East Houston Street outside of President Donald Trump’s visit at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026.
Katina Zentz/San Antonio Express-News
Shown through an upside-down American flag, protestors chant by East Houston Street outside of President Donald Trump’s visit at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026.
Katina Zentz/San Antonio Express-News
Soledad Marquez, left, protests with her daughters Angelica Marquez, center, and Isabella Vera by East Houston Street outside of President Donald Trump’s visit at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026.
Katina Zentz/San Antonio Express-News
Protestors chant by East Houston Street outside of President Donald Trump’s visit at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026.
Katina Zentz/San Antonio Express-News
Stephen Ninotta holds an upside-down American flag while protestors chant by East Houston Street outside of President Donald Trump’s visit at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026.
Katina Zentz/San Antonio Express-News
Randy Gathany holds a sign while protestors chant by East Houston Street outside of President Donald Trump’s visit at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026.
Katina Zentz/San Antonio Express-News
Protestors chant by East Houston Street outside of President Donald Trump’s visit at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026.
Katina Zentz/San Antonio Express-News
The PSL denounced Trump’s aggressive deportation campaign, and both groups said the president isn’t welcome in San Antonio.
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Trump is slated to speak at 6 p.m.
“Donald Trump, go back home, San Antonio is ours alone,” protesters chanted at the corner of Coca Cola Place and East Houston Street.
Trump is visiting San Antonio ahead of the November election to rally voters behind Carlos De La Cruz, the Republican nominee for the redrawn 35th Congressional District, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is in a heated race against Democrat James Talarico for Republican John Cornyn’s U.S. Senate seat. The two are speaking at the rally.
Gov. Greg Abbott, a longtime Trump ally who’s facing a stronger-than-expected challenge from Democrat Gina Hinojosa, isn’t at the event. He announced earlier this week that he wouldn’t be able to attend because of a scheduling conflict. He’s scheduled to be in College Station for the Republican Party of Brazos County’s Barbecue Dinner.
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Wednesday’s rally marks Trump’s fourth visit to Texas in the past six weeks — and his first to San Antonio since 2019.
Several protesters waved Talarico and Hinojosa campaign signs.
“Trump is the WORST President EVER,” the first line of David Bolster’s sign reads. His wife, Mary Jo, carried a sign that said, “Debtor Donald Doubled our National Debt since 2016,” on one side and “Republican = high prices. We love Canada” on the other.
The couple has lived together in San Antonio since 1998.
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“He’s bankrupting our children’s future,” said Mary Jo Bolster, 67.
“In a press address a night or two ago, he said we could just bomb Los Angeles and San Diego, basically, because they’re not going to vote for him so they’re expendable,” said David Bolster, 68. “That is not a president. That is not a servant of the people. That is a tyrant.”
East Side Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, whose district includes the Freeman Coliseum, said before the rally that Trump’s “cruelty and inhumanity are not welcome in San Antonio.”
“He has promoted reckless and inhumane immigration policies that have separated families and harmed countless Texas residents,” the councilman said in a statement. “His endless war in Iran and his unauthorized tariff policy have hurt our local businesses and emptied our family bank accounts — all while his family and friends have grown richer.”
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On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro called on Trump to visit the immigration processing facility in Dilley, more than 70 miles southwest of San Antonio, to see the “trauma he is inflicting on children and babies.” The San Antonio Democrat has long criticized the center for poor living conditions and has called for its closure.
“If you can’t stand there and go inside and look into the eyes of these kids and tell them that despite the fact they’ve done nothing wrong, that they belong there just because of where they were born, just because of the color of their skin, just because of the language that they speak, then you don’t deserve to be President of the United States,” Castro said in a statement.
This morning, Castro also stood alongside local military veterans in front of City Hall to call for an end to Iran war.
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Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones requested a meeting with Trump while he’s in San Antonio to discuss ending the Iran War and tariffs, halt the planned East Side ICE facility, stop incoming cuts to Medicare and “hold data centers accountable” with new laws requiring more openness and pollution limits.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.