Opponents of US President Donald Trump and his adviser, billionaire Elon Musk, staged weekend rallies to protest the administration’s actions to overhaul the government and expand presidential authority
Asad Mirza
TENS of thousands of anti-Trump demonstrators gathered in cities around the globe on Saturday (April 5) as the impact of tariffs and cuts to government agencies galvanised the first big wave of protest against the Trump 2.0 administration.
The rallies came days after Trump upended the global economy by using rarely invoked emergency powers to unleash tariff hikes on almost every country in the world, wiping out trillions of dollars in market value.
Those who attended the protests cited a list of administration policies, from the aggressive trade levies, lay-offs across the federal workforce, deportations of legal immigrants, attacks on the transgender community, and threats to invade Greenland, as well as Trump’s ally or adviser, Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Protesters also gathered in European cities including London, Lisbon, and Paris, and demonstrated in front of a Tesla showroom in Berlin. The electric vehicle maker has become a focus of protests, against its billionaire chief executive, and there have been multiple attacks on vehicles and dealerships across the US.
Protesters on the National Mall in Washington – the largest gathering – held placards with slogans including “Penguins against Tariffs,” “Send Musk to Mars” and “Make my 401k Great Again.”
According to Financial Times, the “Hands Off” movement, which organised the protests in more than 1,400 cities and towns across the US, is backed by advocacy groups focused on everything from abortion rights to climate change. It has sought to reach Americans across the political spectrum, however, by placing most emphasis on economic issues, including tariffs, the plunging stock market, and feared changes to Social Security.
“This mass mobilisation day is our message to the world that we do not consent to the destruction of our government and our economy,” read one digital flyer for the rally in Washington.
Organisers and Democrats have seized on Musk’s unpopularity to energise protesters and voters. On Tuesday (April 1), his preferred candidate, Brad Schimel, was trounced in a Supreme Court race in Wisconsin that was widely seen as a referendum on the controversial billionaire.
News reports said the people gathered in response to what they see as the administration’s overreach on a variety of issues: NATO; schools; libraries; courts; veteran services; fair elections; and, organisers said, “our jobs, our wallets, our bodies.”
The protests on Saturday were the first large-scale demonstrations against the administration since Trump began his second term in January. The president’s return to power has so far been greeted by a muted and largely disorganised response from America’s left, in contrast to the mass unrest, including the Women’s March, that greeted his first presidency.
In Paris, approximately 200 demonstrators, predominantly Americans, gathered at Place de la Republique, displaying banners with messages like “Resist Tyrant,” “Rule of Law,” and “Feminists for Freedom not Fascism.”
Timothy Kautz, a spokesperson for Democrats Abroad, emphasised the importance of global solidarity. “We have to show solidarity with all the demonstrations in a thousand cities today in the USA,” he told Reuters.
Speaking to Reuters, Ezra Levin, co-founder of Indivisible, one of the organising groups, said, “This is an enormous demonstration that is sending a very clear message to Musk and Trump and congressional Republicans and all the goose-stepping allies of MAGA that we don’t want their hands on our democracy, on our communities, on our schools and our friends and our neighbours.”
While the rallies remained peaceful and upbeat, the mood was one of simmering anger. Several protesters wore symbolic costumes, including outfits from The Handmaid’s Tale, to highlight fears over reproductive rights. Others chanted slogans denouncing authoritarianism, with one sign in Denver reading, “No king for USA”.
Meanwhile, the White House dismissed the protests and said in a statement, “President Trump’s position is clear: he will always protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid for eligible beneficiaries. Meanwhile, the Democrats’ stance is giving these benefits to illegal aliens, which will bankrupt these programmes and crush American seniors.”
Despite slipping approval ratings and mounting public pushback, Trump appears undeterred. “My policies will never change,” he said Friday (April 4).
Britt Jacovich, a spokesperson for the liberal group MoveOn.org, which was one of the organisers, said people not only want Trump to get his “hands off” abortion rights and civil rights issues, they want his hands off Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the federal workforce, the value of their 401(k), the broader US economy, and much more.
Meanwhile, according to CNN, the tech billionaire Musk said he hopes for a “zero-tariff situation” between Europe and the United States – just days after Trump announced sweeping tariffs, including a 20% levy on goods from the European Union.
After Trump’s return as president, doubts were raised about the real condition of American democracy; an issue on which former president Joe Biden held several summits with themes ranging from moves against authoritarianism, addressing and fighting corruption, and advancing respect for human rights. Yet, the recent anti-Trump demonstrations have proved that the American public can’t be befooled for long.
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Asad Mirza is a New Delhi-based senior journalist and a media consultant. The views expressed here are the author’s personal and Clarion India does not necessarily share or subscribe to them. He can be contacted at asad.mirza.nd@gmail.com
