Trump says his administration is investigating the financial backers of the ‘No to Kings’ protests.
Trump announced that his administration is investigating whether billionaire George Soros and “other radical left crazies” financed the nationwide “No to Kings” protests on Saturday.
Newsweek added that Soros, through his foundations, provides extensive financial support to progressive causes around the world, including in the United States, and has become “the nose of conservative right-wing groups.”
Trump has previously labeled the far-left movement Antifa a terrorist organization. “I think it’s a joke,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One of the No to Kings protests. “I look at the people there, and they don’t represent this country. And I look at all the new signs that are on them. I guess they were funded by Soros and other radical left crazies. It seems that was the case; we’re looking into it.”
The US president then called the nationwide demonstration “very small, very ineffective” and the participants “very strange.”
He added, “By the way, I’m not a king. I’m not a king. I’m trying my best to make our country great. That’s it. I’m not a king at all.”
According to Newsweek, Trump’s call for the demonstration to be small comes as “No to Kings” organizers say nearly seven million people took part in about 2,700 demonstrations across the United States on Saturday. Similar protests were also held in other countries, including Germany, Portugal, Sweden, Britain, and the Czech Republic.
The “No to Kings” campaign called the protest “a defense of democratic norms and a rejection of authoritarianism.”
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson previously told Newsweek about the protests: “Shout out! Liberals!” he also told Newsweek about Saturday’s rallies: “Who cares?”
Trump also mocked the protesters in a video posted to his Truth Social account, which was created with the help of artificial intelligence, before making comments about funding the protests.
Newsweek called Saturday’s No to Kings demonstration the third major nationwide protest in the United States since Trump returned to the White House, and a sign of organized, international opposition to his administration’s policies.