(NBC News)- Coast-to-coast opposition to upheaval under President Donald Trump’s second term took shape at more than 1,200 events organised by Democratic activists on Saturday.
Protesters across the U.S. took to the streets in a series of “Hands Off” demonstrations decrying Trump’s border enforcement and deportation policies, as well as mass firings under the Department of Government Efficiency.
In a statement released ahead of the event, organizers said Trump and his billionaire advisor at DOGE, Elon Musk, have created an unnecessary crisis under the belief that “this country belongs to them” exclusively.
“They’re taking everything they can get their hands on—our health care, our data, our jobs, our services—and daring the world to stop them,” the organizers said in the statement. This is a crisis, and the time to act is now.”
In Washington, D.C., demand to participate in the protests was strong enough that alternative events were held for those who couldn’t get to the National Mall for the day’s main event, organizer Barbara Green told NBC Washington.
“We thought we would give people a chance to show their strong feelings about what the government is doing and how it is hurting lots and lots of people,” she said.
Green characterized Trump’s short time in office so far during term two as chaotic. “I can’t even name all the ways things have gone off the rails,” she said.
Among those who gathered at the National Monument on Saturday was Trump voter Ramesh Boodram, who’s having some regrets as he contemplates possible disruptions to Social Security under the president.
“I’m a senior citizen,” Boodram said. “He wants to step in into our Social Security checks. It’s not nice.”
The Copaigue, New York, resident has been keeping score during Trump’s first 75 days and suggested some promises have not been kept.
“I thought it would be a little better,” Boodram said. “He’s saying he going to drop the gas prices, the supermarket, the food stuff. But it didn’t happen.”
White House Assistant Press Secretary Liz Huston said in an email that “President Trump’s position is clear.”
“He will always protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid for eligible beneficiaries,” she said. “Meanwhile, the Democrats’ stance is giving Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare benefits to illegal aliens, which will bankrupt these programs and crush American seniors.”
American Federation of Government Employees President Everett B. Kelley rallied demonstrators in Washington.
“We will not be silenced. We will not bow down. We’ll stand up and say, ‘Hands off our union.’ We’ll stand up and say, ‘Hands off our contract.’ We’ll stand up and say, ‘Hands off our democracy, hands off our freedom,’” Kelley told the crowd.
In New England, a dense crowd of thousands filled Boston Common and cheered speakers at Parkman Bandstand, who included Rev. Mariama White-Hammond of New Roots AME Church in Dorchester.
“‘We the people’ means everyone,” she said to rousing approval.
Protester Dan Taylor of Waltham focused on economic and service disruption under Trump.
“As our government is being pulled apart, we want to fight for it,” he said.
Organizers in Chicago estimated tens of thousands of people showed up at Daley Plaza to voice their opposition to Trump’s policies, though the estimate was not verified by police.
“They’re trying to dismantle the federal government, undermine our communities, steal from workers, and crash the economy,” Bob Reiter, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, said at the event.
Philadelphians showed up by the thousands for protests that culminated with a major crowd outside City Hall.
Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro said the day was about standing up for core aspirations — including justice and social progress.
“We’ve all got a role to play in our American system to stand up for the rule of law, for what’s right, for progress,” he said on X on Saturday.
Shapiro called protesters “patriotic Americans” and urged them to continue “raising your voice, and defending our country.”
All along the U.S. West Coast, protesters gathered to decry Trump’s policies.
In downtown Los Angeles, protesters began to amass at Pershing Square for a late-day event.
“We’re just there to let everybody express their First Amendment rights, and we haven’t heard of any scuffles or issues,” Los Angeles Police Department Officer Drake Madison said.
In San Diego, a long stream of hundreds of protesters marched downtown and was joined by sideline counterprotesters, some of whom said they support Trump’s tariffs.
In Seattle, protesters lined a street and held signs that stated, “Hands Off Social Security,” and, “Hands Off Research.”
Demonstrations also took place in cities abroad, including in Paris, Berlin and Lisbon, Portugal.
Responding to an X post that accused “Democrat billionaires” of funding the protests and calling for them to be “held legally accountable for the violence and vandalism,” Musk simply replied on Saturday: “They will be.”
Trump appointed Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, to lead the federal government’s Department of Government Efficiency in January.
The agency, which was previously known as the U.S. Digital Service, has since abruptly laid off thousands of federal workers and shuttered various government programs.
The layoffs and cuts have prompted similar waves of protests in recent weeks.
Last weekend, protests broke out at Tesla dealerships across the country. (Tesla is one of multiple large companies Musk owns or controls).
Shouting matches over the cuts and Musk’s role within executive branch have erupted at GOP town halls in recent weeks, as concerns pile about the federal government’s stability.
Amid Musk’s controversial layoffs, the Trump administration has stepped up high-profile immigration raids and deportations.
Notably, the administration has apprehended foreign students at some of the nation’s most prestigious universities and revoked student visas in an unprecedented fashion. The administration also accidentally deported a Maryland man, who has lived in the U.S. since 2011 and holds a green card, to a high-security jail in El Salvador.
Before Saturday, opposition to Trump lacked the kind of nationwide uproar seen during the 2017 Women’s March, which drew thousands to Washington after Trump’s first inauguration, or the Black Lives Matter demonstrations after George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police in 2020.
Leaders of Saturday’s events suggested this was just the beginning of resistance to Trump’s immigration hard line and government shakeout.
“They want us to feel powerless, but we have people power, and people power is the best power,” Women’s March Executive Director Rachel Carmona said Saturday at the National Mall. “We can’t just outnumber them. We have to outlast them, and we have to out organize them.”
