Thousands of Americans took to the streets on Saturday, protesting against the policies of Donald Trump. Various action groups had called for more than 1,000 rallies in all 50 states. While the protests were not massive, they marked a small uprising of the American left, which had been largely silent since Trump’s election in November.
The main focus of the protest, according to the demonstrators, was against the perceived attack on the rule of law and the dismantling of government institutions, affecting sectors from healthcare to education and development aid.
In the nation’s capital, thousands gathered at the Washington Monument, holding signs warning of the potential for an authoritarian oligarchy under Trump and his advisors, including Elon Musk. Some banners read “Hands off science” while others, in a more lighthearted tone, said “Elon, go to Mars.”
Meanwhile, Trump spent the day in Florida, playing a round of golf at his Jupiter club before returning to his Mar-a-Lago estate in the afternoon.
In West Palm Beach, a protest rally drew over 400 people, with passing drivers honking in support of the pastel-clad and khaki-wearing demonstrators, about six kilometers from Mar-a-Lago.
Trump’s administration, with the blessing of Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” has reviewed the US government and eliminated over 200,000 positions of the 2.3 million federal employees, often in a seemingly haphazard manner, leading to the unintended termination of essential specialists.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) began the layoff of over 20,000 employees, or 25 percent of its workforce, on Friday.
Hundreds of people gathered near Baltimore in front of the headquarters of the Social Security Administration, a major target of the “Department of Government Efficiency” to protest the cuts to the agency, which provides services for older and disabled Americans.
Hours before the protests in the United States, hundreds of anti-Trump Americans living in Europe gathered in Berlin, Frankfurt, Paris and London to express their resistance against Trump’s comprehensive reshaping of American foreign and domestic policy.