Anti-Trump Protests Try to Reach the Newly Alarmed

New York Times

05-04-2025

Opponents of President Trump are planning protests on Saturday in all 50 states to oppose the president's slash and burn attacks on federal health care programs, and government workers, a message that they say appeals to a politically diverse set of Americans.
The mass action, 'Hands Off!,' was organized by Indivisible, MoveOn and several other groups that led protests about abortion rights, gun violence and racial justice during the first Trump administration. But organizers said they are now working with 150 local, state and national partners to emphasize a new message: President Trump is threatening health care, Social Security and education, making life harder for the average American, while benefiting his richest friends.
'We need to bring in new people, and that's where Trump's policies are so consequential,' said Britt Jacovich, a spokeswoman for MoveOn.
Longtime Trump opponents are re-examining the huge protest movements that defined his first stint in office. The demonstrations minted new generations of activists and helped the Democrats retake the House in 2018, but they did not protect Roe v. Wade or compel Congress to pass police reform legislation. And in the end, Mr. Trump came roaring back in November and won the election.
'The protests were effective in the short term, but in the longer term, unless there is some kind of resounding defeat politically, movements like Trump's are able to reconstitute and, in this case, win,' said Erica Chenoweth, a political scientist who studies social movements and nonviolent resistance.
Saturday's protests will surely include signs and speeches about reproductive rights, trans rights and racial justice. In other ways, the events may bear little resemblance to the mass demonstrations in Mr. Trump's first term, particularly the Women's March on Washington, which set the tone for the resistance. The day after his inauguration, more than half a million pink-hatted protesters descended on the nation's capital to watch Madonna perform and celebrities give keynote speeches, and millions more marched in cities nationwide.
The framing for the Saturday march is, 'Let's talk about Trump's economic attacks and attacks on our rights,' said Leah Greenberg, the co-founder of Indivisible. 'They are not different things. They come from an anti-democratic alliance taking over and attacking fundamental parts of our democracy.'
Many of the half a million people who have signed up to participate in Saturday's marches will attend a protest close to home, including in places where Trump has been popular. The marquee rally on the National Mall could be comparatively modest, with a turnout in the tens of thousands. Politicians, labor leaders and political organizers have replaced Hollywood stars as keynote speakers.
'You want the whole country involved in a protest, people in surprising places,' said Jason Stanley, a philosophy professor who recently quit his job at Yale and fled to the University of Toronto. He said that mass movements gain staying power when they garner support beyond protest-friendly environments like liberal cities and college campuses. 'Everyone in a democracy has agency, but everyone has to feel like they have agency to use it,' he said.
The results of the November election demand different opposition approaches, organizers said. In 2017, many opponents of Mr. Trump thought his victory was a fluke, so the strategy was to question his legitimacy. After Mr. Trump won the popular vote in 2024, his opponents began courting people he alienated within his coalition.
'Even people who initially said that Trump was doing what he promised he'd do to his enemies, shaking things up, are now saying, 'What happened to me — what about me?'' said Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers. 'Trump also promised to help with groceries and help people get ahead, and he's making life harder and worse.'
Groups organized by Indivisible have hosted 150 town halls in Republican House districts. Many who attended were worried that Social Security and Medicaid were next on the chopping block. Concerned about the economic outlook, including rising costs for housing and food, they wanted to know why the billionaire Elon Musk was overseeing the government overhaul.
Elections in Florida and Wisconsin on Tuesday gave Democrats hope. In Florida, Republicans won two House seats by slimmer than expected margins. And a liberal candidate won election to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. A variety of polls shows that Mr. Trump's approval rating has dropped.
'Reality has hit in a way it didn't during his campaign,' Ms. Jacovich of MoveOn said.
But the Trump administration's deportations, investigations and university funding cuts have helped subdue dissent.
That requires Mr. Trump's opponents to show they are willing to risk speaking out, said Ms. Chenoweth, the political scientist. And even though protests alone will not stop Mr. Trump, they can help propel the opposition, said Mr. Stanley, the philosophy professor.
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.
'There may be things we disagree on,' Mr. Maysmith said, 'and that's OK.'