FARGO, N.D. – A crowd of demonstrators protested the policies of President Donald Trump and his administration on Saturday afternoon in front of Fargo City Hall.
The rally was part of a nationwide demonstration against Trump, who was simultaneously holding a military parade in Washington D.C. for the Army’s 250th anniversary.
The Fargo event featured a number of speakers who addressed the protesters over the course of the approximately two hours including from the groups Indivisible Red River Valley, League of Women Voters of North Dakota and Prairie Action North Dakota.
Members of the crowd were heard chanting phrases like “Love trumps hate” and “No crowns, no thrones, no kings” throughout the event.
Others gathered along Second Street North holding signs as vehicles drove by honking their horns in support.
Protesters holding signs line Second Street North near Fargo City Hall as part of the ‘No Kings’ nationwide demonstration (Photo: Ken Duffy)
Deb Carter, who’s a member of a local steelworker union that helps builds Bobcats, was at the protest to show her opposition to the Trump administration’s immigration policies including proposed cuts to Medicaid in the “Big Beautiful Bill”. She says the president is stripping bargaining rights from union members.
“These are things we have bargained for long and hard,” said Carter. “As a 31 year union member, I can tell you the small gains that are made every bargaining session and for that to just be taken away is unconstitutional, illegal and immoral.”
Carter says Trump’s 50 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports haven’t impacted her workplace much.
“Not to where we get our steel from, but I am concerned about him approving the sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel,” said Carter. “I think that is a huge concern for our national security. We can’t have a Japanese company owning our biggest steel supplier in the country.”
Demonstrators gather outside Fargo City Hall for the ‘No Kings’ nationwide rally (Photo: Austin Erickson)
President Trump approved that merger by executive order on Friday.
“For many years, the name, ‘United States Steel’ was synonymous with Greatness, and now, it will be again,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “This will be a planned partnership between United States Steel and Nippon Steel, which will create at least 70,000 jobs, and add $14 Billion Dollars to the U.S. Economy.”
(Photo: Austin Erickson)
Clay County DFL Chair Paul Harris believes U.S. democracy is seriously at risk from the actions of the Trump Administration citing protests and National Guard and Marines posted in California and the president’s tax and spending bill.
“If what’s happening in Los Angeles doesn’t scare you, you should be paying more attention,” said Harris. “This so-called Big Beautiful Bill is going to transfer huge amounts of money to the wealthy while driving up the national deficit.”
“Courage is contagious and when enough people show up, and I think there’s a couple of thousand people here, it makes a difference.”
(Above photo: Austin Erickson)
But there were also a handful of Trump supporters who showed up.
Flag Family News spoke to two men who arrived on electric bicycles displaying signs with the word “MAGA” written on a white board with a heart symbol.
The pair from south Fargo drove by the demonstrators several times and were heckled and booed.
“Everyone’s been very angry. We’ve been flipped off a lot,” the men told Flag Family. “We wanted to come and show a little support for Trump.”
Two men from South Fargo rode around with MAGA signs despite being booed by demonstrators (Photo: Ken Duffy)
But despite the mostly negative reaction, the two seemed comfortable at the demonstration, and say they had cordial debates with some of the protesters.
“We actually ran into one guy that we talked to for a long time,” they said. “He was very nice and we talked about each [political] side of the issues and he was very respectful, so we’ve seen it all.”
The day was also marred in tragedy just hours before the rally.
No Kings protests in Minnesota, including in Fergus Falls, Detroit Lakes and Alexandria, were canceled after Minnesota DFL Speaker Emerita Rep. Melissa Hortman was shot and killed in her Brooklyn Park home and DFL State Senator John Hoffman was shot in his Champlin home.
He’s recovering from surgery at the hospital.
The protest in Fargo was largely peaceful, and a handful of police officers were seen patrolling the event.
Carter said she felt safe despite the violence in the Twin Cities metro.
“These are my people. This is what we do as organized labor. This is what we do as human beings,” Carter said. “We come out and rally around each other. I’m not going to be scared unless somebody makes me scared and then they’re going to see me get angry.”
