Over 1 Million Protest in Defiance of Trump’s Attacks
On Saturday, over one million people took to the streets in over 1,400 different cities across the country in all 50 states (and in some European cities, too), in a clear rejection of the onslaught of attacks and mass chaos of the Trump administration.
Massive demonstrations with over 100,000 people took place in Washington, D.C. and New York City. There were large protests ranging from several thousand to 10,000 or more in Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and more. Many large metropolitan areas had protests in multiple cities with thousands of attendees, like in the Bay Area, Houston, and St. Louis.
The protests weren’t just in big cities, but also took place in small cities, and suburban and rural towns across the country, even in some Republican strongholds in Iowa, Florida, Idaho and others.
These demonstrations were the largest single-day protests since Trump’s return to office in January — and for many places, they were the largest demonstrations to take place since the widespread protest movement that rocked the country in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd.
The rallying cry of the protests was “Hands Off” — hands off everything! The protests included people from all walks of life — young, old, and many who protested for their very first time. Protestors showed up with homemade signs opposing every aspect of the Trump administration, condemning attacks on Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, Education, Veterans Affairs, National Parks, the Post Office, and more.
Outrage was also focused at Elon Musk, whose DOGE program has largely been in charge of the mass firing of thousands of federal workers, and the gutting of many federal programs and departments.
Protesters overwhelmingly condemned the administration’s blatant attacks on immigrants, on reproductive rights, on free speech, on trans people, and the increased repression against activism. And there was a clear opposition to the Trump administration’s renewed support of Israel’s blatant escalation in its genocidal assault on Palestinians.
The demonstrations were called by various groups and non-profits, many that have ties to the Democratic Party. And many demonstrations featured speakers linked to Democratic politicians, who are doing their best to try to channel these protests into revitalized support for the Democratic Party, warning people that the only way to stop Trump is to vote for them.
The Democrats will certainly try to co-opt these movements in order to get themselves elected, but that doesn’t mean they will succeed. For many, the Democrats have also been exposed as the same loyal defenders of this system as Trump. Both Obama and Biden have deported more immigrants than Trump. The Democrats are just as responsible for supporting Israel’s genocide, for cutting social services, for defending bosses against workers — all while increasing military spending and providing bailouts to the biggest banks and corporations.
Throughout all of these demonstrations, there was a clear expression of a growing sentiment — that our lives are under attack and it is up to us to fight back; that we can’t sit back and wait for the courts, which Trump has been willing to openly defy; that we can’t wait around for more empty promises from the Democrats; that our future depends on us and our efforts alone. These demonstrations further confirmed that sentiment, and showed us that we are not alone in our opposition, but are quite numerous.
Demonstrations like these give us a glimpse of the kind of power we have if we continue to organize our forces. We have the power not just to defy their attacks and defend our lives, but to bring an end to this system that only benefits the billionaires, and to fight for a world that represents the vast majority of humanity.
