--- title: Why Trump's Call To Protest Is Flopping description: The vast majority of pro-Trump online groups seemed to shrug off the former President's rallying cry. canonical: https://time.com/6264838/trump-protests-indictment-flopping/ author: Vera Bergengruen article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-03-21T20:57:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:51:21.051Z article:section: Politics og:title: 'He Betrayed Us': Why Trump's Call To Protest Is Flopping og:description: The vast majority of pro-Trump online groups seemed to shrug off the former President's rallying cry og:url: https://time.com/6264838/trump-protests-indictment-flopping/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt81487b2e2c6bae41/698a3b49b3fce30d4e0ca4b1/trump-protests-new-york.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: Trump supporters in front of Trump Tower in New York og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'He Betrayed Us': Why Trump's Call To Protest Is Flopping twitter:description: The vast majority of pro-Trump online groups seemed to shrug off the former President's rallying cry twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt81487b2e2c6bae41/698a3b49b3fce30d4e0ca4b1/trump-protests-new-york.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'He Betrayed Us': Why Trump's Call to Protest Is Flopping > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=2854a49e-4275-4404-8ac0-29761639ccca&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Stories Behind Donald Trump's TIME Covers [Watch (HLS stream): The Stories Behind Donald Trump's TIME Covers](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/W8uZ13Pz.m3u8) (5:07)  _Published 2021-01-21. TIME's D.W. Pine looks back at the various covers featuring Donald Trump, from his first appearance in 1989 to the end of his presidency._  by [Vera Bergengruen](https://time.com/author/vera-bergengruen/)  ## Vera Bergengruen Mar 21, 2023 8:57 PM UTC  A few supporters gather in front of Trump Tower after former President Donald Trump urged supporters to protest his looming indictment, in New York, on March 20, 2023. A few supporters gather in front of Trump Tower after former President Donald Trump urged supporters to protest his looming indictment, in New York, on March 20, 2023. Selcuk Acar—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images  by [Vera Bergengruen](https://time.com/author/vera-bergengruen/)  ## Vera Bergengruen Mar 21, 2023 8:57 PM UTC Donald Trump’s calls for supporters to protest his possible indictment by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg led officials to tighten security in New York and Washington and raised fears of potential violence. But Trump’s exhortations were largely met with reluctance from both prominent supporters and the far-right online acolytes who responded to his rallying cry on Jan. 6, 2021\. A demonstration on Monday organized by the New York Young Republican Club outside the Manhattan court where Trump would be arraigned if indicted drew barely 50 people. Only a handful of supporters showed up outside his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, according to local reports. Distrustful that protests might be “traps” set by federal law enforcement and without a fixed date or event to rally around, the vast majority of pro-Trump online groups seemed to waver between apathy and confusion, showing very little appetite for organized action. “He’s not infallible and protest is very vague,” one person wrote in a popular MAGA Telegram group. “And what exactly does “Protest, Protest!!!” mean?” another person asked in a different group. “I’m not trying to be a jerk but you’d think he could give slightly more explicit instructions if he really wanted the tens of millions of people who support him to do something effective.” While there were the usual mentions of “civil war” and apocalyptic language about using violence to “take the country back” that have become commonplace in far-right channels, polls in these groups asking if followers would protest for Trump overwhelmingly found their members opposed. While far-right groups see Trump’s possible arrest as a [politicized prosecution](https://time.com/6264959/trump-anti-government-waco-indictment/), they mostly advised each other to stay home. “I think “protest” is bad advice from Trump,” read one post on a pro-Trump forum. “Unless you’re willing to actually and truly do an insurrection, taking all oppressors prisoner (or worse), there is no point to “protest” here.” **Read More:** [_With All Eyes on Washington, the Real Far-Right Threat Has Moved On_**.**](https://time.com/6099532/january-6-rally-washington/) None of the prominent Trump supporters who played key roles in organizing rallies and protests in the past stepped up either, with many of them publicly declaring they were staying out of it. “I’m retired,” Ali Alexander, a right-wing activist and key organizer of the 2020 “Stop the Steal” rallies that led to Jan. 6, wrote in a post on the Telegram messaging app. Alexander said he had spoken to Alex Jones, a prominent conspiracy theorist involved in the Jan. 6 rallies. “He’s not protesting either. We’ve both got enough going on fighting the government,” he wrote. “No billionaire is covering our bills.” The muted response highlights the lack of enthusiasm for and widespread distrust of mass protests after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, which led to more than 1,000 prosecutions. A review of more than two dozen popular pro-Trump Telegram channels, online forums, and social media groups also suggests that many supporters feel betrayed by what they see as the former President’s abandonment of those who rallied for him on Jan. 6, 2021\. “Why would I protest for a man that left the \[Jan. 6 protesters\] high and dry?” one user posted in a pro-Trump Telegram group. “Trump did nothing to help them after they stuck \[their\] neck out for him.” “Has he called for protests about these poor guys? No. But he’s calling for us to protest about his arrest,” another person wrote. “It doesn’t sit right with me.” Another user agreed: “He’s right. Trump betrayed the J6 patriots. How can anybody still support \[him\]?” **Read More:** [_Inside One Combat Vet’s Journey From Defending His County to Storming the Capitol_](https://time.com/6078530/army-veteran-capitol-siege/)_._ Many of the narratives in right-wing circles online have centered on warnings that the federal government is trying to stoke violent protests by Trump supporters so they can arrest them, according to an analysis shared with TIME by Logically, a U.K.-based tech firm that tracks online misinformation. Far-right groups have warned followers that any protests could be a “setup” or “Deep State traps” to draw our Trump supporters. When the British far-right YouTuber Paul Joseph Watson asked his more than 218,000 followers on Truth Social “Is the potential protest against Trump being arrested a J6-style trap?” more than 85% responded “Yes.” On online messaging groups and forums, Trump supporters discussed alternative ways to protest, with many urging people to withdraw their money from banks, organize national work strikes, set up prayer groups or fly American flags upside down. “Don’t expose your back, because Trump does not have yours,” one user on a pro-Trump social media group wrote. “And he never will.” **Read More:** [**The United States of Political Violence**](https://time.com/6227754/political-violence-us-states-midterms-2022/) Still, intelligence officials have tracked an uptick in violent rhetoric in recent days, with most threats targeting law enforcement, judges and government officials in New York, according to a [CBS report](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-arrest-possible-significant-increase-threats/). Extremism analysts and former law enforcement officials have cautioned that the risk of violence is more likely to come from an individual who decides to act, as happened last year when an armed man attacked the FBI’s office in Cincinnati after the agents raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence. ## Transcript I happened been on their cover like 14 or 15 times. I think we have the all time record in the history of Time magazine. Donald Trump has always had a fascination with time. He first landed on the cover on January 16th, 1989, 28 years before his inauguration, since before his election. Trump has regularly campaigned to be named Time's Person of the Year using rallies and his Twitter feed to comment on Time's choices. They should have picked me for the Person of the Year, but they didn't know. They said. And perhaps most notably, fake time travelers were designed to hang in his golf course clubhouses. Time has a long history of featuring presidents on the cover, and Trump has been no exception. Eight of the top ten people to appear most often on Time's cover are U.S. presidents. Trump finished his term with 35 covers, the fourth most of any president behind Richard Nixon's 55 covers. Ronald Reagan with 46 and Bill Clinton with 40. Rounding out the top ten are George W Bush with 32. Barack Obama 31. Jimmy Carter 27. Jesus 22. And Hillary Clinton and George H.W. Bush tied at 21. We first introduced candidate Trump to Time's readers in August of 2015, when photographer Martin Schaller and Time editor at large Paul Moakley brought a live bald eagle to the Trump Tower in New York City for a portrait. This symbol of democracy was particularly animated during the photo and video session, even angrily nipping at the president's hand during the 2016 campaign. We produced seven covers featuring Trump and created an original visual language for this president with the artwork of artist Adele Rodriguez. Rodriguez, who worked as Time's international art director in the 1990s as a strong, simple, graphic style that immediately grabbed worldwide recognition with the meltdown cover, a reflection of his slumping campaign following the Republican National Convention. Two months later, in response to the release of the infamous Access Hollywood tape, Rodriguez followed with an updated image with the headline Total Meltdown. Of course, TIME reports many different topics, and the visual approaches on the cover reinforces that variety. We have presented President Trump as a frenetic Twitter user, crumbling at the Washington Monument, a punching bag, a graphic wrecking ball, an angry character with his hair on fire, a cross between himself and Vladimir Putin, a king looking into a cover, a slingshot holding fighter, dueling with Nancy Pelosi, a happy president, whistling under an umbrella in the rain, and a man who has painted himself into a corner. We've also photographed Trump for multiple covers, including a White House tour for our May 22nd, 2017 cover and an Oval Office conversation in the summer of 2019 on Trump's plan to keep the White House. My favorite time cover of Trump is nothing to See Here from February 27, 2017. I believe the strongest time covers leave space for a variety of perspectives for this cover. If you're an opponent of President Trump, you look at the cover and you see all the chaos that this man has created. And if you're a supporter of the president, you look at it and say, even among all the chaos in Washington, look how resolute he is sitting behind that desk. That is a great place for a time cover to be. That image was created by longtime Time collaborator Tim O'Brien, who has painted more covers in the past 30 years than any other artist. It was the first of what would become a series of four paintings from O'Brien depicting Trump in a growing storm within the Oval Office. Our Trump covers have certainly not been without debate. An image we created of Trump staring down at a young immigrant girl for our Welcome to America cover sparked controversy. During the campaign, Trump frequently used the cover, proclaiming how Trump won as a selling point on the campaign trail. On numerous occasions, the president also tweeted out a fake time cover animation of how Trumpism outlasts Trump. A cover from October 22nd, 2018. But for most of the past year, the president's image on the cover took a backseat to front line workers. Racial injustice, protests and the rising COVID numbers. And even though the image of Trump wasn't physically shown on two recent covers, his influence was still present. While Trump's presidency has come to a close, it's certainly possible that we haven't seen the last of him. 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