Is the anti-Trump ‘resistance’ starting to find its voice again?
| Boston; Washington; Los Angeles; and New York
For months, Democrats have watched aghast as President Donald Trump has unleashed his head-spinning, all-of-government brand of disruption. Boxed out of federal governing, Democratic voters have bewailed the impotence of their party’s leaders as the Republican administration has dismantled government agencies, claimed wartime powers to deport immigrants – and, last week, imposed an unprecedented level of tariffs that sparked a rout in global financial markets.
Lately, that frustration has shown signs of coalescing into something bigger. Testy voters have peppered GOP lawmakers at town halls, and tens of thousands continue to turn out for a barnstorming tour by Sen. Bernie Sanders. Last week, a record 25-hour protest speech by Sen. Cory Booker drew hundreds of millions of likes online.
On Saturday, disaffected citizens took to the streets. Across the country, from small towns and mid-sized cities to the nation’s capital, voters worried about the future of their democracy voiced their loudest message of opposition yet.
Why We Wrote This
Saturday’s nationwide protests were cathartic for those opposed to President Donald Trump’s policies – a show of force and solidarity. But with Democrats out of power in Washington, it may take more than rallies to bring about change.
The rallies, organized by Democrat-aligned nonprofits, attracted crowds estimated in the tens or hundreds of thousands in larger cities. In Boston, around 25,000 showed up on a cold, drizzly day; 20,000 rallied in Atlanta and 30,000 in Chicago. More than 100,000 came out in Washington, D.C., organizers said. Every state reported some kind of protest, big or small.
For some, Saturday’s protests were cathartic, a show of force and solidarity by progressives who had struggled to pick themselves up from last November’s election defeat. Most attendees appeared to be Democrats who had voted for Mr. Trump’s opponent, former Vice President Kamala Harris, in that election.
The kaleidoscope of handmade signs and causes, from immigration and the defense of Ukraine to LGBTQ rights and press freedom, spoke to the range and scope of Mr. Trump’s executive actions since Jan. 20. Many protesters also made clear that political issues were personal to them.
Kate Norton, a scientist in the pharmaceutical industry in Colorado, flew to Washington with her husband to join the buoyant crowd that spread across the Mall. “I think our democracy is disappearing. I think the whole way of our American life is changing.” She criticized Mr. Trump’s order to eliminate the Department of Education and shrink the programs it funds. Her son was supported by a federally funded program at his public school, and she worries that other children will lose these benefits. “It’s devastating,” she says.
In Boston, Harry Lui said the recent death of his mother, who had been treated for dementia, made him want to join the protest. Mr. Lui, who works in customer services for Whole Foods, said he’s upset at the Trump administration’s deep cuts to National Institutes for Health funding. “They cut off the NIH funding for medical research. That affects dementia research,” he says.
While Mr. Trump was the main target for protesters, plenty of ire was also directed at Elon Musk, the tech billionaire and GOP donor who has become Mr. Trump’s close adviser.
Some of the New York City rally attendees, whose ranks by mid-afternoon stretched nearly 20 blocks through midtown, swapped stories of joining anti-Tesla protests. Mr. Musk is the CEO of Tesla; its dealerships have been swarmed by protests lately against his role in the administration. His willingness to pour money into Republican races has roiled GOP lawmakers in Congress who fear a primary challenger. But his reach fell short last week in Wisconsin, where a Democrat easily defeated his chosen candidate for a state Supreme Court seat in a high-turnout, off-year vote.
Tez Flanaign lives in Westchester, New York, and is a registered independent who voted for a third-party candidate in 2024. He’s shown up for anti-Musk protests at Tesla dealerships. Saturday was another chance to voice his displeasure with Mr. Musk and Mr. Trump, whom he chides for ending support for Ukraine and entering talks with Russia. Ukraine “is fighting for the free world and for democracy,” he says.
Some protesters were animated by economic issues and fears over cuts to social programs such as Medicaid and Social Security. Saturday’s protests were organized in advance of Mr. Trump’s announcement Wednesday that tariffs would be applied to U.S. trading partners. But the cascading market selloffs and the likely impact on voters’ pocketbooks injected another rallying cry into the mix.
Tulio Tobar said he’s concerned about the economy and the effects of deportations on his landscaping company. A registered Democrat in Washington, he foresees any economic pain being unequally felt. “He [Trump] has a lot of money. It’s not going to affect him or his millionaire friends. But for us, for the middle and lower classes – it’s going to hurt us a lot,” he says, speaking in Spanish.
In Boston, Annie Whalen, who owns a gift and floral shop in the Berkshire Mountains, came with her family; it was her first protest. She imports flowers from Canada and frets that Mr. Trump’s tariffs “could ruin our business.” Other products are sourced in China. “They went up 25%. Now they’re up 54%.”
She had bought 100 postcards and plans to write to every U.S. senator to ask them “to stand up to Trump. To get a backbone.”
In downtown Los Angeles, thousands gathered on a warm, sunny afternoon to rally and march a mile to City Hall. Protesters took photos of each others’ signs; some children accompanied their parents.
Minnesota native Julia Florey moved to L.A. two years ago. Her past experience working as an attorney and interpreter for separated migrant women and children in Texas informs how she sees the Trump administration’s hardline immigration policy. It’s an experience she can’t forget. To any person who may feel hopeless, “I just want to be an ally and to show my face and to tell them they’re not alone.”
Many Democrats have felt hopeless during a blitzkrieg of a presidency that is testing the limits of constitutional authority, including over the deportations of migrants, halting of congressionally approved spending, and punishment of universities accused of not protecting the rights of Jews during intense spells of pro-Palestinian activism.
To some, the idea that a protest, even on a national scale, would have any effect on Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk seemed naive. Others insisted that citizens could and should voice their opposition and that staying quiet wasn’t an option. “This is the kind of stuff that can get people energized and wake people up,” says Michael Palmer, a veteran from Whatley, Massachusetts.
While stationed in West Germany, Mr. Palmer, who works as a hospital administrator, witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall and Germans’ hunger for political freedom. He worries that Americans are too complacent and that Democrats are too busy with political strategizing. “Right now, I’m not sure that people on the left should be concentrating so much on the vision for the future as to stop the bleeding now. If we don’t fight tooth and nail to get it [America] back, it’s going to be gone forever.”
Others spoke of the motivating force of holding public gatherings in a democracy and of the need to show the strength of its defenders. “I really hope that when others who are afraid to speak up see this happening, and they see more and more and more people doing this, they will find the courage to do the same,” says Jennifer Cooper, a performing artist and educator from Maryland who joined the Washington protest.
“Because it’s going to be about numbers. It’s going to be about outnumbering the oppression, so that the folks who are defending a democracy outnumber those who are not.”
Staff writers Caitlin Babcock reported from Washington; Ali Martin reported from Los Angeles; Cameron Pugh reported from New York; and Jingnan Peng reported from Boston.
