Trump unleashes bizarre video of him in fighter jet as he pours brown sludge on protesters

Donald Trump has reacted to protests against the expansion of presidential power in the US with a strange AI video. Thousands of people have gathered across the US for “No Kings” demonstrations against the direction of the country under Donald Trump.

The president’s MAGA supporters have labelled the protests as “hate marches” and come after several deployments of the US National Guard to so-called “blue states” – those where Donald Trump did not win a majority of the vote in last year’s election. On Sunday, the president shared the AI video on his social media platform, Truth Social. In it, he can be seen flying a US fighter jet with ‘King Trump’ written on the outside as he sports a crown on top of his head.

He can later be seen dropping thick brown sludge onto protesters below, set to the soundtrack of Kenny Loggins' Danger Zone, from the film Top Gun.

Demonstrators rallied with signs like “Nothing is more patriotic than protesting” or “Resist Fascism”, and in many places, it looked more like a street party.

There were marching bands, a huge banner with the US Constitution’s We The People preamble that people could sign, and protesters in frog costumes, which have emerged as a sign of resistance in Portland, Oregon.

This is the third mass mobilisation since Mr Trump’s return to the White House and comes against the backdrop of a US government shutdown that has not only closed federal programmes and services, but is testing the core balance of power as an aggressive executive confronts Congress and the courts in ways that organisers warn are a slide towards authoritarianism.

Demonstrators packed places like New York City’s Times Square, Boston Commons, Chicago’s Grant Park, Washington DC, and hundreds of smaller public spaces.

Many protesters were especially angered by attacks on their motives.

In Washington, Brian Reymann said being called a terrorist all week by Republicans was “pathetic”.

“This is America. I disagree with their politics — but I don’t believe that they don’t love this country. I believe they are misguided. I think they are power hungry,” Mr Reymann said, carrying a large American flag.

Mr Trump is away from Washington at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.

“They say they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” he said in a Fox News interview that aired before he departed for a million-dollars-per-plate Maga Inc fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago.

Senior Democrats such as Senate leader Chuck Schumer and Independent senator Bernie Sanders are joining in what organisers view as an antidote to Mr Trump’s actions, from the administration’s clampdown on free speech to its military-style immigration raids.

“There is no greater threat to an authoritarian regime than patriotic people power,” said Ezra Levin, a co-founder of Indivisible, which is among the key organisers.

As Republicans and the White House dismiss the protests as a rally of radicals, Mr Levin said their own sign-up numbers are growing.

More than 2,600 rallies are planned in cities large and small, organised by hundreds of coalition partners. They said rallies are being planned within an hour’s drive for most Americans.