The Trump Resistance 2.0 movement achieved sustained protest momentum heading into the summer, starting from their 05 April 2025 “Hands Off!” protests, which mobilized an estimated 3 million protestors in 1,300+ events nationwide.

Follow-up events, like the 19 April National Day of Protest (up to 700 protest events) and May Day (1000+ events) were lackluster in comparison — smaller in total turnout and number of events. But on May Day weekend, we saw some early signs of Far Left activity during events in which police arrested numerous black bloc militants.

Looking ahead, the Trump Resistance is planning what could be the largest single day of protest this year on Saturday, 14 June. Dubbed the “No Kings” national day of action, we could see 3-5 million Americans mobilize for 2,000+ protest events across the country.

With this in mind, let’s take a look at the four phases of a popular revolution, which is what some elements of the Trump Resistance openly say is their goal: to foment a popular uprising against the Trump administration, resulting in his resignation or removal from power.

We can break down any popular revolution, including Color Revolutions, into 3-5 distinct phases, which will help us determine exactly where we are on the scale and how much risk this movement poses right now. I’ll use 4 here, with a brief description of each phase:

1. Symbolic Resistance: Relatively low-risk actions such as protests at government buildings and small demonstrations against symbols of power. These pose no threat to a government, but are used to gauge popular support for political opposition, build legitimacy for a resistance movement, and boost the confidence of actors for larger demonstrations in the future.
2. Selective Resistance: After support and legitimacy are gained through symbolic resistance, a popular revolutionary movement can begin engaging in select political defiance. These actions include civil disobedience such as sit-ins and occupations, boycotts, and sustained demonstrations that garner media attention and begin building pressure against a government.
3. Mass Resistance: When selective resistance achieves active support from a substantial portion of society (typically 15-30% or more), a resistance movement can begin coordinated, targeted, and nonviolent strategic action like national strikes and boycotts, large scale disruption to economic activity and civil society, and other forms of mass political defiance designed to damage a government’s legitimacy, capacity, and authority.
4. Transition of Government Power: Through each phase, a resistance movement builds legitimacy for alternative institutions, especially a shadow government or government-in-waiting capable of stepping in to fulfill government functions once the previous government has been forced from power. This often includes the development of a transitional government to oversee new democratic elections, or to overturn the results of a previous election perceived to have been corrupt and/or produced an illegitimate and illegal outcome.

I’ll continue to provide updates and analysis as the situation develops.