How inflatable costumes ballooned at anti-Trump rallies due to a Portland protester's frog outfit

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Seth Todd was wearing an inflatable frog costume while protesting outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Building in Portland, Oregon, when a federal officer unleashed a torrent of chemical spray directly into the costume's air vent.

Video of the incident on Oct. 2 has spread, and puffed-out costumes — hippos in tutus, Mr. Potato Heads, dinosaurs — have quickly become a feature of protests against President Donald Trump’s administration, including the massive "No Kings" marches across the U.S. last weekend.

Todd, 24, said that while the attention has been overwhelming, he is nonetheless “honored to have inspired a movement like this.”

“It’s helping to … combat that specific narrative that we are violent and we are agitating,” he said.

For protesters like Todd, the costumes are a way of fighting absurdity with absurdity: a playful counter to Trump’s portrayal of Portland as “war ravaged,” “burning down” and “like living in hell.”

The Trump administration’s efforts to deploy the National Guard there for the stated purpose of protecting federal property are still blocked by the courts for now.

Portland’s ICE building outside downtown has been the site of nightly protests that peaked in June when police declared one demonstration a riot. Smaller clashes have also occurred since then, and federal officers have fired tear gas to clear crowds, which at times have included counterprotesters and live-streamers.

Nighttime protesters, frequently numbering just a couple dozen in the weeks before Trump called up the Guard, have used bullhorns to shout obscenities. They have also sought to block vehicles from entering and leaving the facility. Federal officials argue that they have impeded law enforcement operations.

The inflatable costumes are a testament to the city’s quirky protest culture — which also recently included a naked bike ride — and its unofficial motto, “Keep Portland Weird.”

“Portland has always prided itself on this spirit of protest,” said Marc Rodriguez, a Portland State University professor of history and expert in social justice movements.

The costumes also play well on social media, showing the protesters as nonviolent, he added.

Some groups have started giving out the costumes to encourage more demonstrators to wear them. In Austin, Texas, college student Natalie McCabe got a free inflatable bald eagle costume. At the recent No Kings rally, she hung out with a unicorn and a frog.

“Seeing people happy and having a good time and doing something different, like a distraction, it’s just how it should be,” she said.

At the No Kings march in Chicago, Kristen Vandawalker dressed up as an inflatable “pegacorn” — part Pegasus, part unicorn — and posed for photos with the city’s Trump tower in the background, as bubbles from a bubble machine floated by.

“I think everybody just got the memo after Portland that this is something that we can do, and it’s something that the right doesn’t know what to make of,” said Vandawalker, the political action director for Indivisible Chicago Northwest Side. “Certainly, like the ICE agents don’t seem to know what to make of people in costumes. It’s hard to look threatening when there’s a fan blowing you up.”

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, in an e-mailed statement described the costumes as “a bizarre effort to obstruct ICE law enforcement,” adding that “these unsightly tactics won’t stop or slow us down.”

In recent weeks, Portland residents have launched groups such as the Portland Frog Brigade, whose members sport inflatable frog costumes, and Operation Inflation, which hands out inflatable costumes to protesters for free.

On Tuesday, Operation Inflation co-founders Brooks Brown and Jordy Lybeck dropped off about 10 costumes — among them a mushroom, Frankenstein and panda — outside Portland’s ICE building. They placed some on a costume rack and helped demonstrators put them on.

The group has seen donations pour in and plans to expand to other U.S. cities, Brown said.

Mattise reported from Nashville, Tennessee.

Brooks Brown, Operation Inflation co-founder, left, helps a demonstrator put on an inflatable costume outside a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Law enforcement officers watch from a ledge of a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility as a protester stands outside in an inflatable frog costume on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Teresa Clark, 51, of Palm Harbor wears a frog costume during a "No Kings" protest Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025 in Clearwater, Fla. (Chris Urso/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

A protester wearing an inflatable frog costume and waving an American flag takes part in a "No Kings" protest Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Seth Todd, who was in a frog costume when chemical spray was used on the costume outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Ore., gathers with others during a "No Kings" protest in Portland, Ore., on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

A person paints a portrait of a demonstrator dressed in an inflatable costume outside a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)