Labor Day in Flames - America Against Trump, Billionaires, the Military, and the Sellout of Democracy - A First Report

From coast to coast they roar out their anger. Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, have flooded the streets this Labor Day. "Workers over Billionaires" is written on their signs, and it sounds like a vow: We will no longer be squeezed dry, no longer intimidated, no longer ruled by men who send tanks into our cities and ICE raids into schools and hospitals.

n Chicago, Labor Day has taken on a special force. Tens of thousands blocked Michigan Avenue on Monday, gathered in front of City Hall and shouted to Mayor Brandon Johnson: "No military in our streets!" The city administration announced that it would go to court if necessary to stop Trump's plan to deploy the National Guard in Chicago. Governor J.B. Pritzker spoke of a "clear breach of the federal order" and warned that Illinois would not be turned into a stage for an authoritarian show of force. Meanwhile, unions, churches and community groups have announced that they will continue the protests in the coming days and organize a citywide general strike on September 6 if Trump sticks to his threat. Chicago is sending a signal to the entire country: The city will not be silent when democracy is at stake.

Because that is the reality. While children in Los Angeles spend their summer vacations in fear because immigration agents arrest their parents in front of supermarkets, more than 1,200 people have been picked up in ICE raids there since June. In Washington, Trump has sent the National Guard into the streets as if the capital were a war zone: 550 arrests in less than two weeks - even though the crime rate has fallen to its lowest level in ten years. In Chicago, violent crime is down 22 % in 2025, yet Trump is threatening to send in troops. This is not security policy, this is a show of force, a test of how far democracy can be stretched before it breaks.

At the same time, life is becoming unaffordable. Inflation is officially at 2.7 %, but rents in major cities have risen an average of 5–7 %, electricity and food prices in some cases by more than 10 %. Medications have become one of the biggest cost drivers: insulin prices have risen by almost 14 % in the past year, painkillers and children's antibiotics are in short supply in many places. Meanwhile, billions are flowing into border walls, paramilitary equipment and new detention centers. Trump sells this as a victory for the working class, but they are the ones paying the bill - at the supermarket checkout, at the gas pump, at the doctor's office.

And yet - on this day the people refuse to be silenced. They march despite the threats, despite the military presence, despite the repression. They remind us who this country really belongs to. They demand an end to the state of emergency, an end to government by fear, an end to politics for billionaires and lobbyists.

Labor Day 2025 is more than a holiday. It is a wake-up call. Democracy is not at stake in Kabul or Kyiv, it is at stake in Chicago, in Los Angeles, in Washington D.C. - where the government treats its own citizens like enemies. And this protest does not end today: Mass protests have already been announced for September 6, with demonstrations in dozens of cities. The movement is growing - and it will not disappear until this country once again belongs to the people, not to the billionaires and not to those who maintain their power with uniforms and batons.

A detailed follow-up report will follow within the next 24 hours so that our readers and listeners get a complete overview. Coverage in the United States of these protests remains astonishingly thin, and the time difference adds to it. - We are carefully evaluating all the material to provide a comprehensive picture of these protests across the country.

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