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Thousands of anti-Trump protesters took to the streets in Washington, D.C., and cities across the US on Saturday, marking what was expected to be the largest single-day demonstration against President Donald Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk, foreign media reported. Organizers predicted over 1,200 rallies across the nation, with crowds in cities from coast to coast and even international protests in Europe.
According to a Reuters report, the Washington, D.C. rally drew an estimated 20,000 people to the National Mall, where protesters braved light rain to voice their opposition to the Trump administration’s policies. Activist groups from all 50 states, along with groups from Canada and Mexico, participated in the demonstrations, with approximately 150 organizations involved in the protests, the report said.
Standing beneath the Washington Monument, Terry Klein, a retired biomedical scientist from Princeton, New Jersey, explained why she felt compelled to attend: “I’m here to protest Trump’s policies on everything from immigration to the DOGE stuff to tariffs this week, to education.” “Our country is under attack—our institutions, everything that makes America what it is”, Klein told Reuters.
The crowd in Washington continued to swell throughout the day, with signs and flags representing various causes. Some waved Ukrainian flags in solidarity with the ongoing conflict, while others sported Palestinian keffiyeh scarves and held up signs demanding the “Free Palestine” movement. Democratic lawmakers also spoke on stage, criticizing Trump’s domestic and foreign policies, with particular focus on his economic and immigration reforms.
Wayne Hoffman, 73, a retired money manager from New Jersey, expressed concern over the economic impact of Trump’s policies, particularly the use of tariffs. “It’s going to cost farmers in red states, cost people their jobs—certainly their 401Ks. People have lost tens of thousands of dollars,” Reuters quoted Hoffman as saying.
Meanwhile, President Trump was not in Washington, opting to spend the day at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where he played a round of golf before returning to his estate in the afternoon. Protests in West Palm Beach saw more than 400 demonstrators gathered in support of the nationwide action, with honking drivers signalling their solidarity, the report said.
Elsewhere in the U.S., protests were held in cities like Stamford, Connecticut, where some demonstrators held up bright pink handmade signs condemning Trump’s cuts to medical research funding.
Other demonstrators expressed concerns about the “dismantling of vital social safety nets”. A 74-year-old retired attorney feared that Social Security would be gutted under Trump’s administration. “I’m afraid this is all part of a larger plan to dismantle the government and for Trump to maintain power,” he told the news agency.
The protests also targeted Trump’s sweeping overhaul of the U.S. government, spearheaded by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Under this initiative, the federal workforce has been drastically reduced, with reportedly more than 200,000 positions eliminated, including over 20,000 job cuts at the IRS alone.
According to the report, protesters gathered outside the Social Security Administration’s headquarters near Baltimore to rally against the cuts to the agency responsible for delivering benefits to the elderly and disabled.
While the White House has denied that Trump plans to cut Social Security and Medicaid, Assistant Press Secretary Liz Huston criticized Democrats, claiming that they were advocating for benefits for illegal immigrants that would bankrupt the programs.
Hours before the protests began in the U.S., hundreds of anti-Trump demonstrators in Europe gathered in cities like Berlin, Frankfurt, Paris, and London to voice their opposition to the president’s policies.
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