Politics

Anti-Trump protesters turn out to rallies in New York, Washington and other cities across country

Published

1 year ago

April 19, 2025

NEW YORK — Opponents of President Donald Trump’s administration took to the streets of communities large and small across the U.S. on Saturday, decrying what they see as threats to the nation’s democratic ideals.

The disparate events ranged from a march through midtown Manhattan and a rally in front of the White House to a demonstration at a Massachusetts commemoration marking the start of the American Revolutionary War 250 years ago. In San Francisco, protesters formed a human banner reading “Impeach & Remove” on the sands of Ocean Beach overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Thomas Bassford was among those who joined demonstrators at the reenactment of the Battles of Lexington and Concord outside of Boston. “The shot heard ’round the world” on April 19, 1775, heralded the start of the nation’s war for independence from Britain.

The 80-year-old retired mason from Maine said he believed Americans today are under attack from their own government and need to stand up against it.

“This is a very perilous time in America for liberty,” Bassford said, as he attended the event with his partner, daughter and two grandsons. “I wanted the boys to learn about the origins of this country and that sometimes we have to fight for freedom.”

Elsewhere, protests were planned outside Tesla car dealerships against billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk and his role in downsizing the federal government. Others organized more community-service events, such as food drives, teach-ins and volunteering at local shelters.

The protests come just two weeks after similar nationwide protests against the Trump administration drew thousands to the streets across the country.

Organizers say they’re protesting what they call Trump’s civil rights violations and constitutional violations, including efforts to deport scores of immigrants and to scale back the federal government by firing thousands of government workers and effectively shutter entire agencies.

Some of the events drew on the spirit of the American Revolutionary War, calling for “no kings” and resistance to tyranny.

Boston resident George Bryant, who was among those protesting in Concord, Massachusetts, said he was concerned Trump was creating a “police state” in America as he held up a sign saying, “Trump fascist regime must go now!”

“He’s defying the courts. He’s kidnapping students. He’s eviscerating the checks and balances,” Bryant said. “This is fascism.”

In Washington, Bob Fasick said he came out to the rally by the White House out of concern about threats to constitutionally protected due process rights, as well as Social Security and other federal safety-net programs.

The Trump administration, among other things, has moved to shutter Social Security Administration field offices, cut funding for government health programs and scale back protections for transgender people.

“I cannot sit still knowing that if I don’t do anything and everybody doesn’t do something to change this, that the world that we collectively are leaving for the little children, for our neighbors is simply not one that I would want to live,” said the 76-year-old retired federal employee from Springfield, Virginia.

In Columbia, South Carolina, several hundred people protested at the statehouse. They held signs that said “Fight Fiercely, Harvard, Fight” and “Save SSA,” in reference to the Social Security Administration.

And in Manhattan, protesters rallied against continued deportations of immigrants as they marched from the New York Public Library north towards Central Park past Trump Tower.

“No fear, no hate, no ICE in our state,” they chanted to the steady beat of drums, referring to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Marshall Green, who was among the protesters, said he was most concerned that Trump has invoked the wartime Alien Enemies Act of 1798 by claiming the country is at war with Venezuelan gangs linked to the South American nation’s government.

“Congress should be stepping up and saying no, we are not at war. You cannot use that,” said the 61-year-old from Morristown, New Jersey. “You cannot deport people without due process, and everyone in this country has the right to due process no matter what.”

Meanwhile Melinda Charles, of Connecticut, said she worried about Trump’s “executive overreach,” citing clashes with the federal courts to Harvard University and other elite colleges.

“We’re supposed to have three equal branches of government and to have the executive branch become so strong,” she said. “I mean, it’s just unbelievable.”

Politics

How ICE melted from view at the World Cup

Published

9 hours ago

July 12, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Ahead of this year’s World Cup, Democrats had warned that immigration enforcement agents at matches were likely to cross the line with fans or players and create international incidents in the process. So far, those fears haven’t borne out.

As the tournament moves into its final week, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the Homeland Security Department has stayed away from crowd control. Instead it has focused on joint efforts with law enforcement partners to combat counterfeiting and human trafficking around the tournament, which has seen large numbers of foreign attendees flock to the United States, Mexico and Canada in support of their teams.

Even Democrats are noticing the restraint which ICE has exercised around the matches.

“I have not seen, or have not heard of, any significant, serious report, which is really very good. I am happy to hear that,” said Rep. Nellie Pou, a Democratic member of the House Homeland Security Committee whose New Jersey district includes the area around Metlife Stadium that will host the tournament’s final match.

Pou, who had raised concerns about ICE at the sporting event in congressional hearings in the months before the game, attributed the low-profile approach ICE has taken to security at the matches to congressional oversight and “a change in the administration between Secretary Noem, who absolutely didn’t care about what was going on, and Secretary Mullin.”

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin has taken a more tempered and discreet approach to the agency’s enforcement operations than his predecessor Kristi Noem — mending some of the frayed relations she had with Capitol Hill. DHS has also played a major role at the World Cup in less controversial areas. Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Protective Service and the Coast Guard have helped down unmanned aerial vehicles such as drones operating near sporting arenas.

Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican who has chaired House Homeland Security Committee and advocated using sporting events as a diplomatic opportunity to showcase American power, was similarly pleased. While McCaul never joined Democrats in expressing fears about ICE’s conduct at games, he had repeatedly pressed DHS officials on the department’s plans for securing the World Cup.

Their role at the game “is not to deport a bunch of people,” McCaul said, crediting Mullin for the restraint. “Their role is to combat human trafficking. So far, they’ve been staying in that lane, and I think that’s a positive thing.”

Mainly, ICE has deployed agents that are part of the enforcement agency’s Homeland Security Investigations arm. That arm, unlike its deportation-focused counterpart Enforcement and Removal Operations, focuses on investigating serious criminal activity including trafficking, counterfeiting and child sexual abuse material.

“DHS will continue to work around the clock with federal, state and local partners to ensure a secure environment for the remainder of the 2026 FIFA World Cup,” the department said in a statement.

Mullin touted his department’s work on the World Cup in testimony to Congress last month, saying that “we’ve had no serious major incident,” and praising the department’s anti-human trafficking and counterfeiting work.

“Now, there’s a lot of fans that go around. Things happen. But there’s been no serious issue. We’ve had some threats come up. We’ve been able to knock it down because of our relationship with FBI plus ICE,” Mullin said. “We’ve got great reports back from our fan base.”

Asked by a reporter in late June whether ICE was given specific guidance to exercise restraint, Mullin said the fears were unfounded and “there was never guidance that needed to be given.”

“That was the left drumming up fear, and that’s all it was. ICE has always been there to protect the public, and that is what they continue to do every single day,” Mullin said. “The plan was always to keep the games safe and every stadium secure, even in sanctuary cities, and what we’ve proven through this is DHS is capable to work with sanctuary cities if they are willing to work with us, and when we do it together, we can keep everybody safe.”

There have still been immigration-related issues tied to the World Cup. In June, Custom and Border Protection barred a Somali-born referee who was trying to enter the United States, citing unspecified “vetting concerns.” The Trump administration was very strict about how long Iran’s national soccer team could stay in the United States for matches, often forcing the team to return to its base camp in Mexico shortly after playing.

But those issues are not the result of ICE actions, and those incidents have taken place out of major public view, reducing the impact they’ve had on the perception of the games.

Still, some Trump critics on Blue Light News say those actions could hinder the broader ability of the U.S. to use the World Cup as a forum to showcase the best America has to offer to global audiences.

Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, a California Democrat who has promoted U.S. “sports diplomacy” efforts, said that while she was “grateful that ICE has not been terrorizing fans,” she warned that some of those other moves are creating the appearance of a double standard, given that FIFA has declined to criticize those moves from the Trump administration.

“You’ve had the referees not allowed. You had teams, players, who have been held up for hours and hours for searches. And the treatment of the Iranian team,” she said. “When you’re talking about sports diplomacy and you’re talking about a worldwide competitive event that really is about unifying the world through this sport and then you have multiple instances where players — the true ambassadors behind this sports diplomacy — are being mistreated, I call foul.”

Sophia Cai contributed to this report.

Politics

The Trump ally looking for a Messi miracle

Published

10 hours ago

July 11, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

When Argentina defeated Egypt with a last-minute miracle — making it the western hemisphere’s lone survivor into the quarterfinals — the country’s libertarian president Javier Milei said he was “crazy with joy.”

As his Argentina faces off today against Switzerland, Milei — arguably U.S. President Donald Trump’s most Trumpian ally in the Western hemisphere, if not worldwide — could use some good news.

“Milei worked miracles bringing down inflation and corralling public spending. But that came at a significant social cost, and he has been far less successful in attracting investment and creating jobs,” said Benjamin Gedan, a former U.S. State and Treasury Department official who now heads the Stimson Center’s Latin America program in Washington. “The president is ubiquitous, endlessly picking fights and exhausting even many onetime supporters.”

Both in his brash style and brash politics, the chainsaw-brandishing Milei is Trump’s kindred spirit. Before there was DOGE, Milei slashed tens of thousands of public sector jobs to combat what he claimed was administrative bloat.

On other issues, he has followed Washington’s lead. After the United States withdrew from the World Health Organization, Argentina followed suit. Milei has also threatened to leave the Paris Agreement, shunned BRICS and sidelined Mercosur in favor of deeper alignment with the U.S.

In return, Trump last October rewarded Milei, whom he dubbed “my favorite president,” with a crucial $20 billion economic lifeline. An internal Pentagon email cited by Reuters suggested the U.S. also considered supporting Argentina’s claim on the Falkland Islands in revenge for Britain’s stance in the U.S. war against Iran.

But none of it has been enough to save Milei from his political troubles at home. His administration has been hit by several corruption scandals, including his own suspected links to a failed digital coin and the forced resignation of his cabinet chief earlier this month over allegations of misappropriating public funds. Combined with rising inflation, it has made Milei an unpopular figure at home ahead of an election next year.

A survey by Opina Argentina this week found that 58 percent of respondents hold a negative view of the president, placing him behind his main political rivals.

Notably, Milei has not attended any of his country’s matches, despite having previously traveled to the U.S. 17 times since his election in 2023. He might be trying to steer clear of the Argentina football federation (AFA) and its president, Claudio Fabián “Chiqui” Tapia, who, according to Argentine newspaper La Nación, is being investigated by the FBI for possible money laundering.

Milei also skipped Trump’s big July 4 bash in Washington, opting instead for a more low-key celebration at the U.S. embassy in Buenos Aires, causing some Argentinian commentators to speculate about a possible chill in bilateral relations.

On Thursday, however, Secretary of State Marco Rubio put those rumors to rest, congratulating Argentina on its 210th Independence Day in a statement that praised Milei as “an indispensable partner” in the two countries’ joint fight against “narcoterrorism, transnational crime, and authoritarian regimes.”

The two countries have another thing in common: Messi, the 39-year-old Argentine playmaker who is one of the World Cup’s top scorers and also plays for Inter Miami. Both Trump and Milei have sought, in their own ways, to bask in his glow.

“You could have gone anywhere in the world, any team in the world, and you chose Miami,” Trump told Messi during a White House visit in March. The meeting prompted criticism from some in Argentina who accused the soccer legend of lending legitimacy to Trump’s politics by appearing alongside him.

Milei, in turn, seized on that criticism to attack the media and his political opponents and align himself with the football star, declaring: “If you mess with Messi, you mess with us all.”

Messi, meanwhile, has steered clear of politics. A far less polarizing figure than either president, an Argentine survey conducted before the World Cup put his approval rating over 90 percent. When Messi led Argentina to a World Cup trophy four years ago, however, it did not do much to boost the country’s governing class. President Alberto Fernández saw his Peronist coalition suffer a historic defeat in the following year’s election. He was later charged with domestic abuse, and his former vice president is now serving house arrest after a corruption conviction.

“Which is all to say,” observed Gedan, “Messi is a national hero, but Argentine politicians don’t get to share the glory.”

Politics

Will Trump’s Justice Department rescue Messi’s Argentina?

Published

10 hours ago

July 11, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Reports of an aggressive FBI investigation underway in Florida into alleged corruption involving Argentina’s national soccer body are prompting confusion about the Trump administration’s stance toward using U.S. courts and law enforcement to pursue corruption extending beyond U.S. borders.

Argentina’s La Nacion newspaper reported Wednesday that U.S. prosecutors questioned a key businessperson by Zoom earlier this month as Argentina continued its strong run in the World Cup, powered by indomitable veteran Lionel Messi. The Miami Herald also confirmed aspects of the probe, which reportedly focuses on TourProdEnter LLC, a Florida-based company that handled promotional deals for the Argentine Football Association.

The association and people linked to TourProdEnter have denied wrongdoing. No charges have been filed. The Argentine Football Association did not respond for a request to comment.

The moves by the FBI, along with the reported involvement of at least three Justice Department prosecutors, are notable because after President Donald Trump returned to office last year, he paused for several months all enforcement of a U.S. law that makes it a crime to bribe foreign officials overseas, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Trump previously called it a “horrible law.” Incoming Justice Department officials said previous administrations had used the statute to bring criminal cases over alleged corruption that had little connection to the U.S.

Among the cases to face such criticism are a series of prosecutions that began more than a decade ago under former President Barack Obama’s administration into corruption in international soccer. A dozen people were ultimately convicted in the probe, which was led by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York, and toppled FIFA’s leadership.

Appeals in some of the cases have dragged out. In May, the U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn, Joseph Nocella, appeared personally in court to explain to a judge why the Justice Department wanted to drop the case against a former Fox television executive whose conviction for paying bribes for soccer broadcast rights was initially thrown out but later reinstated by an appeals court.

Nocella said the administration had higher priorities, such as counterterrorism, national security, drug and human trafficking and violent gangs, the Associated Press reported.

It’s unclear whether the ongoing U.S. probe into Argentina’s soccer operations is proceeding because a significant part of the activities under investigation took place in the U.S. or some other wrongdoing has been uncovered that makes the case more attractive under current Justice Department policy.

The FBI declined to comment on the case.