What A Day - Over 7 Million Americans Protested Against Trump

Episode Date: October 20, 2025

Millions of Americans were in the streets over the weekend, rallying against President Donald Trump and his administration's latest authoritarian escalations. Organizers for the 'No Kings' protests said more than 7 million people turned out to more than 2,700 pro-democracy rallies across the country. Republicans tried their best to demonize the protesters saying the "hate America" demonstrations would be filled with radicals and violence. But, as it turns out, the protests were almost entirely peaceful. Chicago, Illinois, a focal point for the administration's crackdown on immigration, was just one of the cities that saw people gather in solidarity against Trump. So to talk more about the latest regarding Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the back and forth on National Guard deployment, and what's really happening on the ground there, we spoke with Monica Eng. She covers Chicago for Axios.And in headlines, the Israel-Hamas ceasefire faces its first major test, Trump says he's ending financial aid to one of the country's closest Latin America allies, and the government shutdown stretches into a new week.Show Notes:Check out Monica's work – www.axios.com/authors/mengCall Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's Monday, October 20th. I'm Todd Zwellick, in for Jane Koston, and this is What a Day? The show where only a king has the power to make George Santos a queen for a day. On today's show, the Trump administration continues to inflict pain on everyday Americans as leverage in a still ongoing government shutdown. Israel and Hamas exchange deadly fire in Gaza, threatening the ceasefire. President Donald Trump accuses the president of Colombia of being a drug dealer while he continues to unilaterally kill people on boats in the Caribbean.

And Ukraine steps up attacks inside Russia as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky waits for an answer on American cruise. missiles. But let's start with the massive turnout at Saturday's anti-Trump rallies. Millions of Americans took to the streets over the weekend for the No King's protests, demonstrating against Donald Trump and his authoritarian vibes. Organizers said that more than 7 million people turned out to more than 2,700 pro-democracy rallies in rural towns and major cities all across America. It was the second wave of protests organized by the No King's Network of Progressive Organization. The protests were almost completely peaceful.

That's not the framing Republicans we're looking for. Last week on Capitol Hill, GOP lawmakers predicted hate America demonstrations, filled with pro-Hamas radicals. In New York City, where more than 100,000 people demonstrated, the NYPD reported zero arrests. Here's how Speaker Mike Johnson reacting to the peaceful nature of the protests on ABC on Sunday morning. I've never called anybody an enemy, but we call out... Hate America rally or, you know, Antifa, pro-Hamas, that sounds, those are enemies.

Well, there were a lot of hateful messages yesterday. I mean, we have video and photos of pretty violent rhetoric, calling out the president, saying fascists must die and all the rest. I mean, I don't think that's loving speech. I don't think that's friendly speech, and I don't think it's pro-American to say those kinds of things. Trump also responded to accusations of being called a king on Fox News. A king. It's more than a king.

You know, they're saying they're referring to me as a king. I'm not a king. Not a king is not what Donald Trump's social media operations had to say. The official White House social media accounts posted pictures of both Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance, wearing golden crowns and sitting on thrones. And if that's not gross enough for your civic sensibilities, let's try your stomach. Trump also posted an AI video to Truth Social, depicting himself again. wearing a crown, this time taking off in a jet fighter and bombing Nob King's protests in the streets below with, and I can't believe I'm about to say this, torrents of shit. Take it as a metaphor. Take it as a

threat. One of the things that folks rallied against is the ongoing threat of immigration and customs enforcement officers raiding cities around the country. One of those cities getting a lot of attention, of course, is Chicago. You can't get on social media without seeing disturbing arrests happening in and all around the city. I wanted to know what's really happening on the streets in Chicago. So I spoke with Monica Ang, who covers Chicago for Axios. Monica Ang, welcome to what a day. Thanks so much. Happy to be here. Well, there's been a lot of back and forth and a lot of attention in the last month or so about ICE operations in Chicago. Of course, we're seeing tons of videos, tons of coverage, a lot of iPhone videos from the streets, and some of them

disturbing. Set the scene for all of us. What's happening with ICE in Chicago right now? Well, I mean, you can live your life and not know anything about it. Walk around, have a great time, have 100,000 to 250,000 people in a No Kingsmarsh, have, you know, 50,000 in the Chicago marathon, and see nothing. But if you go on your social media feed, and if you watch the news, you are seeing some really disturbing images. So it's sporadic and terrible, but not so noticeable in people's everyday lives. So let's talk about Broadview. People might have heard that name. What is Broadview? How does it operate and why is it important in this story? Sure. Broadview is an ICE processing facilities. It's been there for at least 19 years.

And it's been the subject of weekly Friday prayers by clergy for at least 19 years, where they pray for the people inside. And, you know, they said in the past they've actually been able to visit them, bring them things, sit on the bus with them as they're taken to detention. In more recent months, it has actually become a detention facility, which is actually illegal in Chicago, in Illinois to have. But we're told that they're not kept there for that many days. Congressional representatives for Illinois have asked repeatedly shown up in person to please be able to go inside to see what it's like. They've not had the opportunity. So it's become a focal point, especially on Friday mornings, for not just those clergy who've been going for years, but for protesters, not an organized group, I should say. I was told by the Department of Homeland Security, this is all organized and they're busing people, and I haven't found a single person who's been bust in.

is a very rag-tag, disorganized group that shows up. They can't even agree on what chance they're going to do. There's a very elderly, hippie clergy group that likes to sing songs from a song sheet that are adapted from Bible songs. And then there's, you know, your usual group of people or single people who want to shoot, shout obscenities at law enforcement. So it's very much a decentralized and disorganized. group, but when I interview them, they all say that they are there to protest what's going on inside. They like more transparency and more accountability about what's happening in this process facility that has become, in many ways, a de facto detention facility.

So what you're describing sounds very, very different from the story coming from the Trump administration, which would tell you to expect Antifa-affiliated terrorist-aligned agitators outside of Broadview. that's not what you're seeing. But what's been happening when ICE interfaces with whatever protests are there? What kind of tactics? What does it look like? Well, it's a great question.

End of September, I was there. Hundreds of people showed up on a Friday morning. And those hundreds of people, again, rag tag, very disorganized. But they would try to approach the facility. There were ICE agents on the other side who, without any rhyme of reason, would start shooting rubber bullets, pepper spray, and throw tear. gas canisters. No one knew exactly when this was going to happen. When I went on Friday, by order of a judge, the fence came down, finally, but there are now barricades, and it's the

Illinois State Police that is enforcing the barricades and the restrictions on how close protesters can get. They brought out the Illinois State Police, who did have batons and did push people back, but they were able to get them to go on the grass or the sidewalk. walk without tear gas, without rubber bullets, without any pepper spray, which the federal authorities really felt they needed or deployed constantly without rhyme or reason. This was very clear. If you do not move to the sides of the street, you will be arrested. And there were some arrests. But this idea that, oh, federal agents, they need help because they're being attacked. And so we need to send in the National Guard. The Illinois State Police did this in about two minutes. No problem.

everybody's still on the side, and then they sang Bible songs. So let's move beyond Broadview and add into the streets of Chicago, where ICE is interfacing with people on the streets, American citizens, immigrants, and undocumented immigrants, to be sure. We've already mentioned that the video tactics might have a distorting effect. Everyday people in Chicago aren't seeing this. We on the internet definitely are seeing it. Can you start to categorize the quality or, what interactions between ICE and people on the streets who they want to apprehend look like?

What happens when ICE finds somebody who they're interested in? Well, the typical scenario seems to go, ICE apprehends someone or ICE goes on a street and then people come out. Now, if someone has a whistle around their neck, you know they are of a certain ilk. It's whistlemania in Chicago. People are carrying whistles on them because it's three blows. if you see ice, a long blow, if they're actually apprehending someone. So when that signal goes out, there are rapid response teams, and then there are others who simply know in those neighborhoods to come out. Sometimes they surround cars.

Sometimes they say, what are you doing? They ask the person what their name is, what their birthday is, so that they can track them. And then it seems, even in some case without apprehensions, ice will toss out a canister up to your guess. The temporary restraining order by federal judge Sarah Ellis says, you must issue two clear audible warnings before using any tear gas. And you cannot use tear gas on journalists or peaceful protesters.

Also, they're supposed to absolutely very clearly identify themselves with a serial number or identification. They also cannot throw people down to the ground unless it's absolutely necessary for their apprehension and they pose an immediate threat. And yet, Sarah Ellis is calling all parties back into court. on Monday, saying, I'm seeing some disturbing things that make me think that my TRO is not being abided by. What DHS is saying is, oh, these incidents, this was all Customs and Border Protection guys, so you don't even want to talk to the ICE guys. And a lot of people don't know the distinction. Customs and Border Protection usually works around the border. Ice, they go all over the place. Governor J.B. Pritzker said, wait a minute, why is Customs and Border Protection

here in Chicago, we're not on a border. Guess what? 100-mile zone, maritime border. I am working with a lot of immigration experts and lawyers to say, how often has this 100-mile zone constituting Chicago as the border because of Lake Michigan really been invoked to bring customs and border protection to Illinois in Chicago? I'm to the point where the governor was like, I don't understand why border protection is here. But the DHS officials tell me that, yes, Chicago is in the 100-mile zone and so fair game. So wait, you say that. Does that mean that the, for the purposes of ICE agents in Chicago, the border is the lakeshore?

Lakeshore drive? Well, for the purpose of customs and border protection agents who are separate from ICE agents. And those CBP agents, they can conduct warrantless seizures. They have extra powers that ICE officers do not have. And so that is what I am investigating right now. It seems like lots of warrantless searches have happened. Monica, what about Americans? American citizens?

ProPublica had a report just before the weekend saying that 170 Americans minimum. Minimum, that was only the estimate they could come up with. So just total basics. If I'm on the corner of somewhere in the loop, I'm in Chicago, ICE walks up on me and says, do you have proof of citizenship? And I say, I don't. I'm not carrying my passport. can they handcuff me and hold me until I can prove to their satisfaction that I was born here?

Well, they've certainly handcuffed people who had not committed a crime. I mean, according to the TRO, you cannot arrest someone who is not suspected of a crime. I don't know what crime, older person Jesse Fuentes, was suspected of when they handcuffed her. The crime that supposedly Debbie Brockman was suspected of was, was, throwing something at an ice car, she claims she did not. So, you know, I wouldn't tell anyone that they were 100% immune to arrest if they didn't have papers proving that they are an American citizen when they're standing in Chicago. So now at the federal level here in Washington, Donald Trump has gone to the Supreme Court asking for them to give permission to move National

Guard troops in. We've seen temporary restraining orders. You have a hearing on Monday. day governing ICE and Border Patrol tactics. What's your take on the legal posture right now and what kind of boots on the ground Chicago could be seeing in the next week or so? Well, I mean, it really depends on how the Supreme Court issue goes. Both the appeals court and the federal court, Judge April Perry said, you know, when I look at the accounts, I've been in Chicago News for 40 years. And I've seen some fibs and some tweaks coming, the truth coming out of government. I have never seen any government press releases that were so far off from the truth I've seen on the ground as the ones that I've gotten from DHS. And this is what the judge pointed

out. She just says that the information that DHS is providing is unreliable. And let's just see if the Supreme Court also feels it's as unreliable in, you know, whether they grant or they deny the deployment of National Guard troops in Chicago. Well, before we go just talk about that a little bit more. I mean, you've been on the streets and in the houses of Chicago for many, many decades. People will know that there have been lots of protests in Chicago going back over the years, including the last few years during the Trump era all the way back to 1968 and the Democratic National Convention riots at that time. Is this fundamentally different than anything that you've seen before? In terms of protests? Protest and how federal agents are

responding. Well, the federal response is nothing like I've ever seen. You know, we've never had the National Guard being threatened. We've never had anyone threatening to deploy the National Guard on Illinois against the will of our governor. I mean, it's, you know, we're seeing one unprecedented thing after another. I was here covering the Laquan McDonald protests, the George Floyd protests, and those were very, very, very strong. You know, what we saw with the, with the No King protests, so peaceful, you know, huge, enormous, but very peaceful. But people, I think part of that is the ice tactics in Chicago. And people in Chicago are fed up, but by and large, what I have seen is completely peaceful. And this characterization, and I read it in the press releases,

that rioters are attacking federal law enforcement is just not compatible with what I see with my own eyes. And federal judges don't seem to believe it either. They've said so in their rulings. Exactly. And several courts. I mean, what April Perry said was, we've had four courts just this week tell us that what you are charging is not compatible with the truth. So why should I believe it? So that's what we're seeing at this point. Protest is not rebellion. I think it's a quote from one of the judge's writings in those. Right. Yeah. Monica, Anne, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. That was my conversation with Monica. Aang. She covers Chicago for Axios. We'll link to her work in the show notes. We'll get to more

news in just a moment, but if you like the show, make sure to subscribe, leave a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Watch us on YouTube and share with your friends. More to come after some ads. today is brought to you by Zbiotics pre-alcohol. Let's face it, after a night with drinks, I don't bounce back the next day like I used to. I have to make a choice. I can either have a great night or a great next day. That is until I found pre-alcohol. Zbiotics pre-alcohol probiotic drink is the world's first genetically engineered probiotic. It was invented by PhD scientists to tackle rough mornings after drinking. Here's how it works. When you drink, alcohol gets converted into a toxic byproduct in the gut. It's a buildup of this byproduct, not dehydration,

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The government is shut down. How long is this going to last? Look, the Democrats are kamikazis right now. They're kamikaze pilots right now. They have nothing going. They have no future. They have incompetent candidates. Encouraging words there from the president of the United States as the government

shutdown nears its third week, with no end in sight. Democrats want to extend health insurance subsidies, but Republican leaders refuse to negotiate until Congress approved short-term funding to reopen the government. Hence, the standstill. In a pre-recorded interview that aired on Sunday, Trump proudly told Sunday morning futures host Maria Barteromo

that the shutdown unties his hands. Now, what we're doing is we're cutting Democrat programs that we didn't want because I mean, they made one mistake. They didn't realize that that gives me the right to cut programs that Republicans never wanted, you know, giveaways, welfare programs, et cetera. And we're doing that, and we're cutting them permanently.

The thing about cutting programs Republicans never wanted, these programs exist because Trump and Republicans agreed to them and signed deals including them. So one interesting question lingering behind this shutdown, Can you make a deal with the guy who'll break it whenever he wants? Anyway, Trump is trying to fire, not just furlough thousands of federal workers across the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Education, and other agencies. Congressional Republican leaders have mostly shrugged, saying that's the cost of not doing business. Israel's military carried out a wave of deadly strikes in Gaza Sunday, killing at least 30.

Palestinians across the territory, including children. Israel accused Hamas of violating a recently brokered ceasefire by attacking Israeli troops earlier in the day. Israel says Hamas killed two soldiers and injured three others. The Israeli defense forces also said the transfer of aid to Gaza was halted. Hamas, which has not yet given up its weapons, is accusing Israel of arming Palestinian gangs. it calls criminal looters operating in the Israeli-controlled half of the Gaza Strip. An anonymous source told the Associated Press, the Israeli military, resumed enforcing the ceasefire, and an official confirmed that aid deliveries would resume today. A little over a week has passed since the start of the U.S. proposed ceasefire aimed at ending two years of war.

The violence is the first major test of the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Ukrainian drones struck a major gas processing plant in southern Russia, forcing it to suspend imports from Kazakhstan, authority said on Sunday. Kiev has ramped up attacks in recent months on Russian energy facilities, which, it says, both fund and directly fuel Moscow's war effort. The strike comes after Trump hosted Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Friday. Now, contrary to Zelensky's hopes, Trump did not commit to giving Ukraine tombs. Mohawk cruise missiles that could strike deeper inside Russia. Here's Zelensky speaking with NBC News after the meeting Friday. It's good that President Trump didn't say no, but for today didn't say yes.

Now, you might be feeling a little bit of whiplash. Just a week ago, Trump had floated the idea of sending Ukraine new weapons. Then last Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin called and voila. Trump now appears to have edged back in the direction of no cruise missiles and pressing Ukraine to give up land loss to Russia in exchange for an end to Moscow's aggression. In an interview, Trump said as much to Maria Bartaromo of Fox News. Here he is talking about Putin.

Well, he's going to take something. I mean, they fought, and he has a lot of property. I mean, yeah, he's one certain property. If you say that, he's one certain property. We're the only nation that goes in and wins a war, lives. Yeah, why can't we pillage? More like Vladimir Putin does. Trump's attitude is, hey, Putin deserves the land he attacked. I deserve a trophy, like a Nobel Prize. President Trump said in a truth social post on Sunday that he'll be ending financial aid to

Colombia, one of the United States' closest Latin American allies. Trump's announcement comes in response to Colombian President Gustavo Petro accusing him of of murder over extrajudicial U.S. airstrikes against alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean Sea. Trump called Petro, quote, an illegal drug dealer who does nothing to stop the production of drugs in his country. He said Petro better end drug operations or the U.S. will, quote, close them for him and it won't be done nicely. Petro responded on social media saying, quote, trying to promote peace in Colombia is not being a drug trafficker. Also on Sunday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced U.S. forces attacked a Colombian ship tied to a leftist

rebel group, although he provided no evidence for that claim. Meanwhile, survivors of one of the airstrikes in the Caribbean are being repatriated to Colombia instead of being held or charged in the United States. Petro has pushed back against Trump's characterization of his country and claims the strikes are a violation of Colombian sovereignty. He says one of the attacks in September killed a fisherman with his distress signals activated, and he questioned Trump's motives in a statement over the weekend. Petro says there, when it comes to dealing with the issue of the Caribbean Sea, which has nothing to do with fentanyl, what the United States is saying is that it wants oil from Venezuela and Guyana. Oil greed is behind the strategy that is firing missiles at fishermen.

And that's the news. Before we go, in Bravo America, a special Love It or Leave It series, John Lovett dives into the reality TV universe to figure out how our nation's trashy as pastime took over not just our screens, but our entire culture. From the politics of fame to the performance of authenticity, he's getting real about what happens when real life becomes entertainment. This week, he's talking to Survivor legend Parvety Shallow, the Black Widow who turned flirtation into strategy and outwitted almost everyone. They'll get into how she stumbled into stardom right after college and how her reality TV persona followed her off screen.

That's Bravo America every Tuesday on the Love It Leave It feed and on YouTube. Subscribe so you don't miss one darn episode. That's all for you. today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, contemplate what you can accomplish in just seven minutes, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading, and not just about how robbers took just seven minutes to break in and steal the crown jewels from inside the Louvre in broad daylight, like me. What a day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Taz Willick. Someone brazenly stealing in

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