‘Hands Off’ Protests: How Americans Revolt Against Trump and Musk’s Policies

Never before has a US president shaken up the country's daily life so swiftly and directly as Donald Trump has in less than three months of taking office.

From his first day in the White House, Trump launched a fierce campaign against immigration, cut government jobs at unprecedented rates, and sought to dismantle entire federal institutions, while continuing to oust his opponents one by one.

While continuing his rule with near-total disregard for public criticism, Trump has hinted at his desire to run for a third term, defying one of the oldest tenets of the American political system.

The Trump administration's confrontational policies have deepened divisions within the American public, prompting hundreds of thousands of Americans to take to the streets in mass demonstrations against him and his controversial team, led by billionaire Elon Musk.

Democrats have accused Trump of betraying the people, amid a wave of anger over his domestic and foreign policies that serve the wealthy and harm American democracy.

Many Americans also shared several hashtags on their social media accounts, most notably #HandsOff and #DonaldTrump, expressing their joy at the Americans' uprising against Trump and taking to the streets.

At the same time, and for the same reasons, and following a difficult week for financial markets following Trump's decision to impose comprehensive global tariffs, hundreds of protesters demonstrated in European cities against Trump and Musk, demanding their resignations, the return of democracy to America, and an end to the chaos.

Pro-Palestinian groups also participated in the Washington demonstrations, protesting against the US administration’s support for Israel’s renewed military actions in Gaza and the crackdown on campus protests. ​

Hands Off Protests

On April 5, approximately 1,200 demonstrations took place in Washington, New York, Boston, Chicago, and several other US states, involving tens of thousands of protesters critical of the policies of Trump and his team, led by Elon Musk, who is tasked with cutting the federal budget.

These demonstrations, under the slogan ‘Hands Off’, were planned in major US cities by more than 150 organizations, including Indivisible, MoveOn, Third Act, Reproductive Freedom for All, and the 50501 Movement, in addition to human rights organizations, labor unions, veterans, and other movements that have led previous protests against issues such as abortion rights, gun violence, and racial equality.

They also held up signs condemning the Trump administration's policies, such as ‘Where did my country go?’, ‘Send Musk to Mars’, and ‘Hands off Social Security’. Palestinian flags were also raised and chants demanding an end to the Israeli genocide in Gaza were also prominent.

The demonstrators expressed their anger at the Trump administration's aggressive moves to downsize government departments and slash public budgets, particularly for education, Social Security, and healthcare, in addition to laying off tens of thousands of employees, deporting immigrants, and raising tariffs on dozens of countries, stock markets have plummeted.

At least 121,361 workers have been fired from federal agencies so far, as of CNN’s latest tally on March 28.

Although Trump tried this week to reassure Americans and assuage their anger, urging them to be resilient and defiant, not to be afraid or worried about what lies ahead, and emphasizing that the US trade war against trading partners will succeed, he admitted that this will not be easy.

In Boston, protesters held up signs reading ‘Hands off our democracy’ and ‘Hands off our social security’.

In Los Angeles, protesters marched toward City Hall chanting ‘Power to the People’ and carrying signs with messages such as ‘Out of Education’.

During the Hands Off protests in Washington, D.C., several lawmakers took the stage to speak about the Trump administration, including Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, who said there was no future for a president with Mussolini's policies and Herbert Hoover's economics.

Hours before the protests were scheduled to begin in the United States, thousands of anti-Trump Americans living in Europe gathered to express their opposition to the radical changes Trump has made to U.S. foreign and domestic policies.

Demonstrations spread from London to Berlin, demanding an end to the chaos. Hundreds of people also gathered in Paris' Place de la République, holding up slogans such as ‘Resist the tyrant’ and ‘Save democracy’.

It's worth noting that former US President Barack Obama, in a speech he delivered at Hamilton College a few days ago, called on American citizens, university students, and law firm employees to oppose Trump's policies, leading many observers to believe that Obama is leading this uprising.

Growing Concern

Since the beginning of Trump's second term, activists have organized several protests across the country against his administration's policies.

However, the opposition has yet to mobilize a mass following similar to the 2017 Women's March in Washington, which brought together thousands of women against the then-Trump administration, or the protests led by the Black Lives Matter movement that took place in several US cities following the killing of George Floyd in 2020.

Recent Hands Off protests have focused, in addition to racial justice issues, on Trump's harsh economic policies that impact the daily lives of ordinary citizens.

These demands differ from those raised by the protests during Trump's first term, which focused primarily on women's rights. Today, a new discourse is emerging, centered on economic and social rights.

- “Our communities are paying the price while the Trumps and Musks of the world cash in. It’s not just about money – it’s about power,” Hands Off organizers wrote. 

They have therefore begun to expand their alliances to attract audiences from places previously considered strongholds of support for the Trump administration, such as some rural areas and states where Trump won previous elections.

“From Utah to Iowa to Minnesota to New Mexico to Florida, people showed up in huge numbers to tell Trump & Musk: #HandsOff our futures,” wrote Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.

Regarding the social impact of the Trump administration's hardline policies, organizers reveal growing concern among American citizens about the viability of Social Security and Medicare in light of the Trump administration's ongoing attacks on these programs.

Pete Maysmith, the incoming president of the League of Conservation Voters, said that the protests on Saturday will be a success if a diverse group of people in red and blue states come together to talk about how Mr. Trump is changing the country.

Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar said, “If we want a country that still believes in due process, we have to fight for it.”

Congressman Maxwell Frost, representing Florida's 10th District, also spoke to protesters in Washington, saying: “We need protests. We need a legislative strategy. We need to be in the courts litigating.”

He called the current state of politics in America an insidious rise of authoritarianism fueled by corrupt billionaires and mega corporations who think they have a right to control all aspects of the lives of their citizens, including freedom of speech.

“As you stand here right now, we have gone from a ‘Trump slump’ to a ‘Trump train wreck',” Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) told the protesters.

“Where is Donald Trump? He’s Golfing! So to Donald Trump, I say ‘get your a$$ off the golf course and face the people,” he added.

According to Newsweek, the 50501 movement, which participated in the recent ‘Hands Off’ protests, has called for new nationwide protests in all 50 states against the Trump administration.

It said the demonstration scheduled for April 19 would be to protest what it described as a hostile government takeover overseen by the Trump administration.

The group stated its desire for 3.5% of the U.S. population to participate, or more than 11 million people, citing this number as the minimum number needed for sustained resistance to make a difference.

The grassroots group has previously organized nationwide demonstrations under the slogan ‘50 Protests. 50 States. One Movement’, including on February 4.

They also organized a ‘No Kings Day’ protest on February 17, as well as a third anti-Trump demonstration on March 4.

At the same time, many Americans, particularly Republicans, have praised Trump's efforts to shrink the powers of the federal government and restrict the scope of progressive policies, such as diversity hiring requirements.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt spoke about the protests to USA Today. “Anyone who thinks protests, lawsuits and lawfare will deter President Trump must have been sleeping under a rock for the past several years,” she said.

Leavitt continued, “President Trump will not be deterred from delivering on the promises he made to make our federal government more efficient and more accountable to the hardworking American taxpayers across the country who overwhelmingly re-elected him.”

For his part, Elon Musk condemned the American protesters, insinuating that they were paid by Democrats and bused to the protest sites after retweeting videos accusing the protesters of this.

Musk wrote: “The problem is the puppeteers, not the puppets. They don't know why they exist.”