1000’s of protesters opposing broad swaths of President Trump’s agenda took to the streets throughout america on Monday, calling Mr. Trump a “king” on Presidents’ Day for his efforts to terminate 1000’s of federal staff and to fireplace prosecutors and unbiased watchdogs inside the federal authorities.
On Saturday, Mr. Trump advised on social media that he wouldn’t heed considerations that his sweeping actions could possibly be breaking legal guidelines, posting a riff on a phrase usually attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte: “He who saves his nation doesn’t violate any legislation.”
“No king, no crown, we is not going to again down,” chanted those that gathered just a few hundred toes from the U.S. Capitol on the Nationwide Mall in Washington.
Many protesters against Mr. Trump’s agenda embraced symbols of patriotism, waving flags and sporting heart-shaped earrings and beanies adorned with the U.S. flag. The members of an a cappella group sang the nationwide anthem by the Capitol Reflecting Pool. The viewers burst into applause after the ultimate line: “And the house of the courageous.”
“It’s our anthem. It’s our flag. It belongs to us,” mentioned Shawn Morris, the president of the Homosexual Males’s Refrain of Washington, D.C. “We wished to take it again.” Mr. Morris mentioned he was deeply troubled by Mr. Trump’s strikes to push transgender folks out of the navy and to erase any point out of them from federal authorities web sites. He expressed considerations that protections for same-sex marriages could possibly be threatened subsequent.
“There’s nothing extra patriotic than preventing in opposition to tyranny,” mentioned Kat Duesterhaus, who traveled from Miami to affix the Washington protest. “We’re out right here as a result of we’re patriots.”
The protests got here as Democrats have struggled to counter Mr. Trump’s strikes, with Republicans holding majorities in each the Home and the Senate and Democratic leaders and operatives frightened about alienating voters in reacting swiftly with out reflecting first on why they misplaced in 2024. Many activists, nonetheless, have voiced frustration on the lack of a extra aggressive stance.
Kaitlin Robertson, a protest participant who does advocacy work for home violence survivors, carried an upside-down American flag and mentioned the nation was in “a constitutional disaster,” a time period that some authorized students have mentioned suits the scope of the Trump administration’s assertions of govt authority within the face of authorized challenges.
“It’s a image of misery,” she mentioned of the upside-down flag, which was additionally adopted by supporters of Mr. Trump in his effort to overturn the 2020 election he misplaced. “It’s a good image for what’s occurring.”
The main group organizing the protest recognized itself because the 50501 movement, a grass-roots effort to push again in opposition to what it views as Mr. Trump’s second-term “overreach” in reshaping the federal government.
Sarah Parker, the chief director of 50501’s member group Voices of Florida, mentioned the nationwide protests had been fueled by a submit on Reddit. The dialog on Reddit gained traction as extra individuals who had been on the lookout for methods to behave on their frustrations concerning the Trump administration joined the dialog, she mentioned.
Considerations on Mr. Trump’s agenda amongst protesters ran the gamut, together with his international insurance policies. Joseph Schiarizzi, a protester who was holding a NATO flag and described himself as leaning libertarian, mentioned the Trump administration had been “making an attempt to dismantle and sabotage” the navy alliance by appeasing Russia on Ukraine.
“Appeasement doesn’t work,” he mentioned.
Different protesters additionally blamed Congress for not doing sufficient to test the Trump administration. Nadya Downs, who led the mantra “The place is Congress? Do your job,” mentioned lawmakers wanted to higher problem unilateral actions of the Trump administration.
“I’ve seen lots of people mad about it in Congress,” she mentioned. “However the place’s the motion?”
Comparable rallies of various sizes and names, some billed as “Not My Presidents’ Day” and others known as “No Kings’ Day,” happened throughout the nation, together with at Union Sq. in New York; a submit workplace in Nantucket, in Massachusetts; the Poff Federal Constructing in Roanoke, Va.; and the California State Capitol in Sacramento.
The Sacramento Police Division estimated the group measurement on the Capitol at 1,200 to 1,500.
In New York, 1000’s of individuals marched from Union Sq. to Washington Sq. Park on Monday afternoon. Beneath the arch, they held up American flags and handwritten indicators like “Cease the Coup” and “No Billionaire Kings,” alluding to the position of the tech billionaire Elon Musk in Mr. Trump’s efforts to shrink and remake the federal work drive.
Dominic Santiago, 29, an artist from Flatbush, Brooklyn, mentioned he got here to indicate solidarity with different New Yorkers who opposed the Trump administration.
“I’ve religion due to these demonstrations,” he mentioned. “I’ve religion that we will change issues.”
Lillian Bacon, 25, a university pupil majoring in political science, mentioned, “I’m right here at present to struggle for democracy and struggle for the freedom and dignity of all folks.”
It was her first time taking part in a public protest. She mentioned she had develop into livid and disillusioned with Mr. Trump, Mr. Musk and Republican leaders over what she noticed as their violation of the constitutional separation of powers. “I’m hoping there shall be solidarity amongst all American folks even when they did vote for Trump,” she mentioned.
Protesters additionally gathered on the steps of the Arkansas State Capitol. Amongst them was Tanya Hollifield, an artist in Little Rock. “I took my signal that mentioned ‘Combat Fascism All over the place,’” she mentioned.
“I believe they’re tearing down the entire system of checks and balances, and the Elon Musk coup, or takeover, is among the present issues I’m actually upset about,” she mentioned.
In downtown Atlanta, a crowd gathered exterior the State Capitol chanting: “Hey, hey, ho, ho. Elon Musk has obtained to go.” In Austin, exterior the Texas Capitol, a video from an area CBS affiliate confirmed a girl, who recognized herself as Kristin Jenn, taking the microphone whereas sporting a placard saying “Donald Trump stole my job.”
“The Nationwide Park Service was hit very exhausting on Friday,” she advised the group. “Numerous my co-workers misplaced their jobs. They can not take away my job, drive me to get a authorities handout after which name me a parasite.”
Ms. Jenn mentioned she was middle-aged and incomes lower than $50,000 a yr in her federal job. Organizers in Austin mentioned their intention was to push again in opposition to Undertaking 2025, a conservative suppose tank’s plan for a Republican presidency that has been mirrored in a collection of Mr. Trump’s govt orders.
