While millions of protesters took to the streets in fear for the future of the republic, a growing fringe says it is time for an absolute monarchy
Washington
Monday October 20 2025, The Times (TheTimes.com)
In 1776, the citizens of the United States vowed to free themselves from the “absolute tyranny” of monarchy. But when America marks the 250th anniversary of its independence from the British Crown next year, not everyone will be celebrating.
“I am a big-R Republican because I’m a member of the Republican Party,” said Eric Zurlippe, 21, a political science major at North Carolina State University. “But I am not a small-r republican because I do not believe in republicanism.”
Zurlippe represents what appears to be a growing but still fringe trend among young Americans: a belief that democracy is overrated and it is time to replace it with an absolute monarchy.
The protest in New York was one of more than 2,000 rallies held across America
RON ADAR / M10S / SPLASHNEWS.COM
“If I were alive at the time of the revolution, I would have supported the royalists and King George III,” said Zurlippe, the vice-chancellor of Monarchists of America.
The rise of monarchism among young Americans is consistent with a number of studies that suggest Gen Z is more suspicious of democracy than previous generations. Fewer than 1 per cent of the over-65s are in favour of an American monarchy. But 27 per cent of 18 to 29-year-olds in the USA would like to have a king or queen, according to a YouGov poll in 2023.
“The eldest generation is the most pro-republicanism,” said Zurlippe, who blogs under the alias Clements Magnolia. “Whereas our generation is the most pro-monarchism.”
On Saturday, millions of Americans attended “No Kings” demonstrations to protest against President Trump’s perceived illiberalism.
From San Diego to Boston, rallies were held across more than 2,000 American cities with many protesters wearing frog costumes, a symbol of anti-Trump resistance.
Police clashed with demonstrators outside City Hall, Los Angeles
DANIEL COLE/REUTERS
Outside Mar-a-Lago, where the president was enjoying a weekend playing golf, protesters in West Palm Beach held up signs warning that “democracy dies in silence” and “dictators fall when people rise”. But unlike their compatriots concerned about the future of US democracy, the Monarchists of America are exercised for an entirely different reason: they want the USA to become more autocratic, not less.
“It is roughly 95 per cent male,” said Zurlippe of the association’s growing but still small membership. “That’s mainly due to the fact that women are not very often active within the political circles we are also active in.”
Similar organisations and individuals harbouring doubts about American democracy include the United Monarchist Party of America, which says that monarchy is a “completely legitimate form of government”, and Curtis Yarvin, a blogger whose admirers include JD Vance, the vice-president, Steve Bannon, the godfather of the Maga movement, and Peter Thiel, the tech billionaire.
Under the pseudonym Mencius Moldbug Yarvin has built up a cult following with his theory that the president should be replaced with a “CEO-monarch”.
Given Trump’s business background, and his taste in gilded furniture, some have suggested Yarvin’s theory is fast becoming a reality.
Some of Trump’s supporters are openly urging him to adopt a more regal approach to the presidency. On Friday, the Team Trump campaign group posted an AI-generated video of the president wearing a crown and ermine cloak and waving at crowds from the White House balcony.
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But Trump says that comparisons between himself and a monarch are wide of the mark.
“I don’t feel like a king,” he said this year. “I have to go through hell to get stuff approved.”
That said, the president posted a bizarre AI-generated video on Saturday night which seemed to suggest that he may have come around to the idea. The 20-second clip shows the president, wearing a crown, piloting a fighter jet adorned with the words “King Trump”.
He is seen soaring above a crowd of protesters in Times Square, Manhattan, before dumping vast amounts of brown liquid on to them.
Ian Hoover, 21, head ideologist of the Monarchists of America
GEORGE GRYLLS FOR THE TIMES
Supporters of a monarchy do not necessarily see the serving president in the role, however. Ian Hoover, 21, who blogs as Thomas B Brightsworth and is the head ideologist of the Monarchists of America, said: “Most American monarchists who actually want a monarchy don’t want the Trump family.
“We don’t believe that the monarch should merely be a symbol, or just a purely ceremonial figure, we believe the monarch should have a lot of power.”
Hoover, who studies history and theology in Ohio, says that comparing the Trumps to a dynasty like the Tudors or Medicis is wrong.
“We’ve had the Kennedys, the Bushes, the Roosevelts. I mean, that’s still commonplace in American politics,” he said.
Nevertheless, the prominence of the US president’s children in the court of Trump has led to speculation in the monarchist community that the younger generation could be next in line for the throne.
“There have been, of course, the memes of, oh, Baron Trump. He’s going to be the next Augustus Caesar. To be honest, maybe? But we don’t know the kid,” Zurlippe said.
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Having watched Trump’s recent state visit to the UK, where he rode to Windsor Castle in a horse-drawn coach, many American monarchists believe that pomp and ceremony is a significant part of the appeal of royalty.
There are mixed reviews, however, on Trump’s lavish renovation of the White House — and his plans to beautify Washington DC with an “Arc de Trump”.
“He puts too much gold everywhere. There’s a difference between actually beautiful and just tacky,” said Hoover, who wears a three-piece suit and a brooch carrying the double-headed eagle of the Holy Roman Empire.
Monarchists of America’s proposed royal insignia
“But it’s a good thing to make the White House more beautiful. I wouldn’t mind if the White House were developed into a palace”.