The protests emerged from an online movement organized around the hashtags #buildtheresistance and #50501, symbolizing 50 protests across 50 states in a single day.
On Wednesday, protesters gathered in American cities to voice their disapproval of the Trump administration’s initial policies. They denounced the president’s immigration crackdown, his revocation of transgender rights, and his plan to forcibly relocate Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
Signs condemning President Donald Trump, billionaire Elon Musk, the head of Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency, and Project 2025, a hard-right blueprint for American society and government, were waved by protesters in Philadelphia and at state capitols in California, Minnesota, Michigan, Texas, Wisconsin, Indiana, and elsewhere.
At a demonstration outside the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio, Margaret Wilmeth declared, “I’m appalled by democracy’s changes in the last, well, two weeks — but it started a long time ago.” “I’m merely attempting to establish a presence in opposition.”
The movement behind the protests was organised online under the hashtags #50501 (50 protests, 50 states, one day) and #buildtheresistance. Social media accounts and websites urged people to take action, posting things like “defend our democracy” and “reject fascism.”
In Lansing, Michigan, hundreds of people gathered in the bitter cold outside the state capitol.
Ann Arbour resident Catie Miglietti expressed particular alarm about Musk’s access to Treasury Department data. In an attempt to mimic Musk’s straight-arm motion from a January speech that some have taken as a Nazi salute, she painted a poster showing Musk puppeteering Trump from his outstretched arm.
“It’s an attack on democracy if we don’t stop it and get Congress to do something,” Miglietti stated.
Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency came under heavy fire from protests in a number of locations.
On the steps of the state capitol in Jefferson City, Missouri, where dozens of demonstrators gathered, one poster said, “DOGE is not legit.” “Why is Elon in possession of your Social Security number?”
Congressmen have voiced worries that DOGE’s participation in the US government payment system would result in security breaches or late payments for Social Security and Medicare, among other programs. A IT executive working with DOGE will have “read-only access,” according to a Treasury Department official.
In the first few weeks of his new administration, Trump has issued a number of executive orders addressing issues ranging from immigration and trade to climate change. Protests have increased as Democrats start speaking out against Trump’s plans.
In Austin, Texas, protesters marched through the city centre. They gathered outside California’s Democratic-controlled Legislature in Sacramento and marched to Georgia’s state capitol from Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta. Protests in Denver accompanied close-by Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities, and an unknown number of individuals were taken into custody. Phoenix protesters chanted “no hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here” and “deport Elon.”
Block Title
Laura Wilde, a former Austin public school occupational therapist, stated, “We must demonstrate strength.” “We seem to be in a state of shock,”
In St. Paul, Minnesota, where 28-year-old Hallie Parten was carrying a Democratic presidential campaign sign that had been changed to read “Harris Walz Were Right,” thousands of people demonstrated. The Minneapolis native claims that terror served as her driving force.
“Be afraid of what will happen to our nation if we don’t all take action,” Parten stated.
Protesters affiliated with the anti-Trump movement entered the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines to disrupt an event organised by the conservative parental rights organisation Moms for Liberty. For around fifteen minutes, the anti-Trump activists yelled over the rotunda’s speakers before police forced them outside and took four of them away in handcuffs.
To oppose activities against LGBTQ+ persons, several hundred people gathered outside the Statehouse in Alabama.
In keeping with Trump’s recent executive order directing the federal government to define sex as simply male or female, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey pledged on Tuesday to sign legislation stating that there are only two sexes, male and female.
Unitarian Universalist clergyman the Rev. Julie Conrady addressed the assembly, “The president believes he has a lot of power.” “He has no authority to decide your gender. He has no authority to determine who you are.