Crowds of people angry about the way President Donald Trump is running the country protested in cities throughout the U.S. on Saturday in the biggest day of demonstrations yet by an opposition movement trying to regain its momentum after the shock of the Republican’s first weeks in office.
So-called “Hands Off!” demonstrations were organized for more than 1,200 locations in all 50 states by more than 150 groups, including civil rights organizations, labor unions, LBGTQ+ advocates, veterans and elections activists. The rallies appeared peaceful, with no immediate reports of arrests.
From the National Mall and Midtown Manhattan to Boston Common and multiple state capitols, thousands of protesters assailed Trump and billionaire Elon Musk 's actions on government downsizing, the economy, immigration and human rights.
In Arizona, Liliana Novati came from Queen Creek to be part of a large demonstration in downtown Phoenix. She says Trump and Musk are “destroying the country,” and many of those suffering the consequences are not even aware.
“They’re hurting everybody in this nation, whether they know it or not, except for the billionaires,” Novati said. “The billionaires are the only ones who are not being hurt by the Trump administration. And yet, he has so many people brain-washed that they still support him, and it’s astounding.”
Across the country, demonstrators voiced anger over the administration's moves to fire thousands of federal workers, close Social Security Administration field offices, effectively shutter entire agencies, deport immigrants, scale back protections for transgender people and cut funding for health programs.
Musk, a Trump adviser who owns Tesla, SpaceX and the social media platform X, has played a key role in the downsizing as the head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency. He says he is saving taxpayers billions of dollars.
Phoenix protester Emory Webb said the sweeping and drastic actions of Trump and Musk should not have come as a surprise.
“I came here to protest what brought President Donald Trump and Elon Musk to where they're at,” he said. “Because a lot of people are shocked, but it really isn't a thing that should be shocking.”
Webb says he is concerned the Trump administration is ignoring legal channels and precedents, and that there aren’t sufficient checks and balances to safeguard against their overreach. A resident of the Gila River Indian Community, he said he’s also concerned Trump may not recognize tribal sovereignty.
“I decided because as a Native American, there's a lot on the line with this administration," Webb said.
At the National Mall, where Democratic members of Congress also took the stage, Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign advocacy group, criticized the administration's treatment of the LBGTQ+ community.
“The attacks that we’re seeing, they’re not just political. They are personal, y’all,” Robinson said. “They’re trying to ban our books, they’re slashing HIV prevention funding, they’re criminalizing our doctors, our teachers, our families and our lives.”
In Phoenix, Liahla Ferra said the protests signal that people have reached a breaking point.
“Well, what you saw was a lot of people fed up with what's going on and what's taking place and really the Hands Off movement is telling them that we're done. We're done putting up with it. We're not sitting at home anymore,” she said.
She brought a pair of signs to highlight her concerns, as well as the groups she feels are under attack.
“Everybody speaking up, getting out there and saying hands off of everything when it comes to our policies, our children's medical, Social Security, just all of it,” she said. “There's too much to put on one poster, right? Because it's daily just this attack on Americans and our constitutional rights.”
Next to her, Jack Echeverri held a sign that said “HANDS OFF OR FIND OUT.”
“I think that the goals of the protests were really to show the discontent that we have with the current administration and how they aren't listening to the people, they're not listening to any of us, and they're directly harming us in ways that we can't control,” he said.
The president planned to go golfing again Sunday, according to the White House.
Asked about the protests, the White House said in a statement that “President Trump’s position is clear: he will always protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid for eligible beneficiaries. Meanwhile, the Democrats’ stance is giving Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare benefits to illegal aliens, which will bankrupt these programs and crush American seniors.”
Activists have staged nationwide demonstrations against Trump and Musk multiple times since Trump returned to office. But before Saturday the opposition movement had yet to produce a mass mobilization like the Women's March in 2017, which brought thousands of women to Washington after Trump's first inauguration, or the Black Lives Matter demonstrations that erupted in multiple cities after George Floyd's killing by police in Minneapolis in 2020.
Back in Phoenix, Novati got emotional speaking about equality and civil rights, saying the country is rapidly being driven backward, erasing decades of hard-fought gains.
“Trump is stoking fear and hatred amongst ourselves and it’s hurting all of us,” she said, her voice cracking. “I hate feeling this much hatred for this person who’s hurting us, but it’s like, how can you not?”
She said she has no expectation that Trump or any other Republicans will be swayed by the protests.
“I have very little hope,” she said. “They’re obviously not going to listen to us. With Project 2025 and everything that they’ve been working towards for decades — they’ve been planning this for ages — they’re not going to listen to us, I know that.”
But she said it’s important to urge Democratic leaders to put up a stronger fight. And it’s also important to show the world that many Americans abhor what the Trump administration is doing, both domestically and abroad.
“I want the rest of the world to know that we are still gonna fight. We still need to fight. Because we’re not gonna lie down and just let it happen.”
