Trump critics launch largest single day of protests across US
Thousands of protesters gathered in Washington, D.C., and across the United States on Saturday, part of some 1,200 demonstrations against President Donald Trump expected to form the largest single day of protest 76 days into his presidency, after he and billionaire ally Elon Musk launched a rapid-fire effort to overhaul government and expand presidential authority.
People streamed onto the expanse of grass surrounding the Washington Monument under gloomy skies and light rain. Organizers earlier told Reuters that more than 20,000 people were expected to attend a rally at the National Mall.
Some 150 activist groups had signed up to participate, according to the event’s website.
Protests were planned in all 50 states plus Canada and Mexico. Hours before the protests were due to kick off in the US, hundreds of anti-Trump Americans living in Europe gathered in Berlin, Frankfurt, Paris and London to voice opposition to his sweeping makeover of US foreign and domestic policies.
Terry Klein, a retired biomedical scientist from Princeton, New Jersey, was among those who gathered by the stage beneath the Washington Monument.
Economic policies
She said she drove down to attend the rally to protest Trump’s policies on “everything from immigration to the DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) stuff to the tariffs this week, to education. I mean, our whole country is under attack, all of our institutions, all the things that make America what it is.”
The crowd around the memorial continued to build throughout the day. Some carried Ukrainian flags and others wore Palestinian keffiyeh scarves and carried “Free Palestine” signs, while Democrats from the US House of Representatives went on stage to blast Trump’s policies.
Wayne Hoffman, 73, a retired money manager from West Cape May, New Jersey, said he was concerned about Trump’s economic policies, including his widespread use of tariffs.
“It’s going to cost the farmers in the red states. It’s going to cost people their jobs—certainly their 401Ks,” he said, referring to their retirement savings. “People have lost tens of thousands of dollars.”
But Kyle was a lone Trump supporter, sporting a “Make America Great Again” hat as he walked the fringe of the Washington rally while engaging protesters in debate.
“Most people aren’t too hostile. A few people cuss,” said the 20-year-old intern from Ohio, who declined to give his last name.
Trump’s supporters have applauded his audacity as necessary to disrupt entrenched liberal interests.
‘Maintain power’
Trump, who shook financial markets and upset nations around the world with a raft of trade tariffs taking effect this week, spent the day in Florida, playing a round of golf at his club in Jupiter before returning to his Mar-a-Lago compound in the afternoon.
Some 6.4 kilometers (4 miles) from Mar-a-Lago in West Palm Beach, more than 400 demonstrators gathered on a sunny day in protest. Drivers honked their horns in support of the pastel- and khaki-clad demonstrators as they passed by.
“Markets tank, Trump golfs,” read one sign.
At another protest in Stamford, Connecticut, Sue-ann Friedman, 84, brought a bright pink, handmade sign objecting to the administration’s moves to cut funding for medical research.
“I thought my marching days were over, and then we get somebody like Musk and Trump,” she said.
Paul Kretschmann, a 74-year-old retired attorney in Stamford, said it was the first time ever he attended a protest.
DOGE under fire
“My concern is that Social Security is going to be gutted, that we’re going to lose our benefits, and that there’s going to be nobody around to administer it in the first place,” he said. “I’m afraid that this is all part of a larger plan to dismantle the government and for Trump to maintain power.”
With Trump’s blessing, Musk’s DOGE team has scythed through the US government, eliminating more than 200,000 jobs from the 2.3 million federal workforce. At times, the effort has been haphazard and forced the recall of needed specialists.
On Friday, the Internal Revenue Service began laying off more than 20,000 workers—as much as 25 percent of its ranks.
Several hundred people gathered outside the headquarters of the Social Security Administration, a top DOGE target, near Baltimore to protest against cuts to the agency which delivers benefits to the elderly and persons with disabilities.
Linda Falcao, who turns 65 in two months, told the crowd she had been paying into the Social Security fund since she was 16.
“I’m terrified, I’m angry, I’m pissed, I’m bewildered this could happen to the United States,” she said. “I do love America and I’m heartbroken. I need my money. I want my money. I want my benefits!”
The crowd chanted, “It’s our money!”
Trump returned to office on Jan. 20 with a stream of executive orders and other measures critics say are aligned with an agenda outlined by Project 2025, a deeply conservative political initiative to reshape government and consolidate presidential authority.
