This weekend saw the largest anti-Trump demonstrations since he started his second term in January. [Brooke Anderson/The New Arab]
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets of US cities in more than a thousand locations on Saturday to protest the policies of US President Donald Trump, Tesla CEO and DOGE leader Elon Musk, and to protest US support for Israel’s far-right government amid its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip.
From coast to coast and in small towns in between, on one of the first warm weekends of the spring, people came out in droves to protest multiple policies of the Trump administration, in addition to separately organised demonstrations in support of Palestinians, with the largest gatherings taking place in Washington, DC.
Key grievances at the demonstrations were the widespread layoffs of government workers affecting access to basic welfare services, US military support of Israel, the administration’s recently administered tariffs, and the deportations of immigrants.
“Trump is a disgrace – a disgrace for the American people, for immigrants like me, coming from Uruguay in South America,” Manuel, a protester who asked only to use his first name only, told The New Arab.
“I’m here today because of the way he’s treating the federal government and destroying all of the little support minorities and people in need have, and because of his policies in the Middle East and the genocide against the Palestinians. It’s horrible,” he said, as crowds continued to gather near City Hall in San Francisco.
Demonstrators brought a range of homemade signs, many in ironic reference to billionaires, specifically Trump and Musk, making money off those less fortunate.
Among them were: “The only immigrant stealing your job is Elon Musk”, “Solidarity with our penguin allies”, “The only minority destroying the US is billionaires”, “You can’t combover injustice”, and “You’re fired!”.
Multiple dog owners held signs reading: “My dog bites fascists” while their dogs wore sweaters reading: “I bite fascists”.
Flags also featured prominently at the demonstrations, including those of Ukraine, Palestine, Canada, Mexico, the United Nations, as well as upside-down American flags, traditionally used as a symbol of distress.
As cars drove by, many honked in support, a few of them holding their own signs while driving. Some pedestrians joined in the demonstrations spontaneously.
Saturday’s protests were by far the largest against Trump since he took office for his second term two months ago.
“I was surprised this didn’t happen earlier, but I guess that’s how movements happen in America. In other parts of the world, it would be an instantaneous avalanche of protest,” said Manuel.
In addition to protesting Trump, Musk and the rest of the Republican administration, many protesters expressed disappointment in the Democratic Party over a lack of resistance, messaging and substance.
Some were determined to change that. Amid a large crowd, two men were selling T-shirts they had designed featuring an image of the US Constitution and the acronym MACA (Make America Constitutional Again) printed in dark blue — shirts they hope to sell again at the next Democratic convention to spark buzz and enthusiasm for the party, much like Republicans have with theirs.
“I’ve been sitting around sulking about what’s going on in our country. One day, I woke up and looked in the mirror and said, ‘Damn, you need to get up and do something about it’,” John Al-Samarrie, a longtime Democrat who is disappointed in his party’s lack of energy, tells TNA.
As someone who grew up under a dictatorship in Iraq, he worries about the recent turn in politics in the US.
“My goal is to launch a MACA movement across the country. At the [2028] Democratic convention, they’ll see this just like we’ve had to watch all the MAGA stuff. It’s essentially an anti-MAGA shirt,” he said.
Up the street, at a Tesla dealership, where a smaller crowd was gathered, Michael Goven Miller said he is protesting because he believes he is seeing the precursors to a dictatorship.
“We’ve got all of the precursors. Our allies are no longer our allies. We’ve made them our enemies,” he told TNA. “When someone states that I only want to be a dictator on day one, anyone who studies history knows that you go after the legal side of things.”
For those who had turned out for the pro-Palestinian demonstrations, the focus was on Gaza and free speech in the US. However, on Saturday, many Palestinian advocates joined the larger anti-Trump demonstrations, possibly a sign of a growing united front as the Trump administration intensifies its crackdown on dissent.
Meanwhile, many Palestinian advocates from various US cities traveled to Washington for the large demonstration. There, activists unfurled a white banner with the names of Palestinians who had died in Israeli attacks since October 2023.
The main organiser of the anti-Trump demonstrations was the group Indivisible, while the main organiser for the pro-Palestinian demonstrations was the ANSWER Coalition, Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, an umbrella organization for grassroots movements. Meanwhile, the protests in front of the Tesla dealerships were largely independent.
