Trump's Quiet & Cringey Military Parade

TRL on the ground at "No Kings" protest in NYC & Military Parade in DC

Welcome back to The Red Letter and Happy Father’s Day, especially to my father Peter!

I’m finally dry after reporting on the rainy ‘No Kings’ march in New York City on Saturday. You can watch my LIVE man on the street reporting and interviews below.

I’m proud to say that New York City pulled off a peaceful protest. It almost felt like a parade for the over 50,000 people who needed a place to vent about President Trump. Unsurprisingly, a number of the people I spoke to were progressive Democrats with signs like “Free Palestine,” “Crush ICE,” “Deport Melania,” “Dump Your Republican Boyfriend” (my favorite 🤣) and upside down American flags — the signal for a ship in distress, now meant to signal a nation in crisis. I saw a man dressed as Luigi from The Mario Brothers, to support Luigi Mangione, who’s been accused of killing a healthcare executive. There were number of Palestinian and Mexican flags, but I noticed an effort to incorporate American flags to show that nationalism can’t be co-opted by the Christian Right.

The police presence was intense heading down 5th Avenue and 42nd until Madison Square Park. It wasn’t until the end of the route that I witnessed a standoff between protesters and police officers, when cop cars attempted to breakup crowds by driving their vehicles through them.

“How do you spell fascists? NYPD!” the protesters shouted at the police in unison.

That was really the worst of it. I interviewed a man on the street afterward about the chants and he said that many people were still angry about how police handled anti-ICE protesters downtown days earlier. I posted the protester’s reaction on my Substack LIVE.

Meanwhile, President Trump took in his military/birthday parade while Iran and Israel were firing rockets in what is looking like a full on war. When Trump took the stage, the world was waiting on some acknowledge of the conflict in the Middle East, but nothing. His entire cabinet and top officials, who arguably should have been in The Situation Room strategizing on the strikes, were on the National Wall listening to Lee Greenwood and watching fireworks.

My reporter on the ground Abi Baker texted me the below pictures and this description of an “eerily quiet” scene in DC: “Tons of unused security checkpoints and