Thousands of protesters gathered in Washington and across the US on Saturday, part of some 1,200 demonstrations that were expected to form the largest single day of protest against President Donald Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk since they 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 told Reuters that more than 20,000 people were expected to attend a rally at the National Mall. The protests handed Trump's opponents an opportunity to demonstrate their displeasure en masse in response to Trump's raft of executive orders. 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. Terry Klein, a retired biomedical scientist from Princeton, New Jersey, was among those who gathered by the stage beneath the Washington Monument. She said she drove down to attend the rally to protest Trump's policies on "everything from immigration to the DOGE 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 blasted Trump's policies on stage.
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. People have lost tens of thousands of dollars," Hoffman said.
Trump 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. With Trump's blessing, Musk's Department of Government
Efficiency 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% of its ranks. Several hundred people gathered on Saturday 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 disabled.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ