‘Hands Off!’: Millions of Anti-Trump Protesters Take to US Streets

Across the streets of all 50 states on Saturday, April 19, protestors called for an end to President Donald Trump’s “hostile takeover” and his “authoritarian overreach and billionaire-backed agenda” under the manner of the “Hands Off” movement.

More than 150 progressive groups were involved in organizing thousands of different demonstrations. They included progressive public policy advocacy groups like MoveOn and Indivisible, and others that work across civil rights, women’s rights, veterans support, labor, climate justice, and LGBTQ+ advocacy.

“Whether you are mobilized by the attacks on our democracy, the slashing of jobs, the invasion of privacy, or the assault on our services—this moment is for you,” Hands Off’s event materials read. “We are setting out to build a massive, visible, national rejection of this crisis.”

The protests follow Trump’s ongoing slashing of the federal workforce, as well as his tariff announcement earlier this week, which prompted an uproar and caused the stock market to plummet.

As reported by Reuters, a poll found Trump’s approval rating fell to 43%, his lowest since taking office.

Per a public statement, demands from Hand’s Off include “an end to the billionaire takeover and rampant corruption of the Trump administration; an end to slashing federal funds for Medicaid, Social Security, and other programs working people rely on; and an end to the attacks on immigrants, trans people, and other communities.” The protests also focused on Musk’s “illegal power grab,” with the group stating that “Trump, Musk, and congressional Republicans are gutting services, raising prices, and racing towards slashing Medicaid, social security, and more.”

In New York, thousands marched from Bryant Park to Madison Square Park. In Washington, DC, tens of thousands of protesters gathered at the National Mall, and large crowds in Hollywood, Florida—close to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort—turned out for the demonstration. One protest took place at a Tesla dealership in Fort Lauderdale. There were also international solidarity protests taking place in Paris and London, among other European cities.

At the group’s largest protest, in DC, Democratic representatives took turns to speak to the crowd, including Maryland’s Jamie Raskin, who described the president as having “the politics of Mussolini and the economics of Herbert Hoover.” Minnesota Democratic representative Ilhan Omar and Maxwell Frost of Florida also spoke, asking people to take part in the action, donate to mutual-aid funds, put pressure on their elected reps, and stay focused on the demands.

Across the demonstrations, chants of “hey ho, Trump’s gotta go,” and “power to the people” circulated. Placards read “Hands Off Education,” “Fuck Musk,” and “Resist, Resist.”