Common Defense is a left-of-center nonprofit that states to be the “largest grassroots membership organization of progressive veterans” which advocates against “[President] Trump’s corrupt agenda of hate.” ¹

Activities

In June 2025, Common Defense participated in organizing or supporting protests branded under the “#NoKings” banner, a national day of demonstrations positioned as a defense of democratic norms against President Donald Trump. These events were part of a larger mobilization involving over 70 Democratic Party affiliates and allied organizations across at least 19 U.S. states and multiple international locations, according to publicly available event listings on Mobilize.us, a Democratic Party-aligned organizing platform. ^{2 3}

In January 2026, a coalition of organizations and nonprofits organized a protest in New York City titled “No Wars, No Kings, No ICE,” to demonstrate against the Second Trump Administration, U.S Military Action in Venezuela, and operations conducted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). These included the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) NYC, Rise and Resist, The People’s Forum, Federal Unionists Network, Jewish Voice for Peace NYC, Target Majority, Common Defense, Indivisible Brooklyn, Our Time, 50501, and the Brooklyn Resisters. Other groups that took part in similar protests in the city around January 2026 include the national DSA organization, the Revolutionary Internationalist Youth from the City University of New York, the International Communist League, Indivisible, and Refuse Fascism. ^{4 5}

1. “Home.” Common Defense, accessed August 7, 2025. https://commondefense.us/
2. “Partners.” No Kings. Accessed June 25, 2025. https://www.nokings.org/partners.
3. Nomani, Asra. “Asra Nomani: The Familiar Hidden Hand behind Today’s #nokings Protests.” Fox News, June 14, 2025.https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/asra-nomani-familiar-hidden-hand-behind-todays-nokings-protests.
4. Stu Smith (@thestustustudio). “This poster is doing a lot at once. You’ve got DSA and The People’s Forum in the mix, while 50501 and Indivisible are also on the same flyer.”  X, January 8, 2026. https://x.com/thestustustudio/status/2009437651569451049
5. Asra Nomani (@AsraNomani). “Who is behind the anti-ICE protests we’re seeing explode across the US?” X, January 9, 2026. https://x.com/AsraNomani/status/2009533251887431692