Tens of thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets of cities across the United States on Saturday in a massive show of opposition to President Donald Trump’s policies, marking the largest nationwide protests since he took office in January.

Dubbed the “Hands Off” demonstrations, the rallies spanned over 1,200 locations across all 50 states, with significant turnouts in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington DC.

The protests, which also reverberated internationally with solidarity events in London, Paris, and Berlin, highlighted widespread discontent with Trump’s domestic and foreign agendas. Key grievances included his recent imposition of steep import tariffs, aggressive immigration enforcement, and provocative foreign policy moves. In Paris, English-language signs underscored a global backlash against Trump’s approach to trade and diplomacy, while London protesters wielded messages like “WTAF America?” and “He’s an Idiot,” alongside chants decrying Trump’s remarks about annexing Canada and Greenland and his fraught relationship with Ukraine.

In Boston, the arrest of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish international student detained by masked U.S. immigration agents near Tufts University, fueled local outrage. “You can stand up today or you can be taken later,” said Katie Smith, a law student at the Boston rally, reflecting the incident’s galvanizing effect on academic and immigrant communities.

Washington DC saw thousands converge near the White House, where Democratic lawmakers addressed the crowd, zeroing in on billionaire Elon Musk’s outsized role in shaping Trump’s administration. Musk, a key advisor, has championed drastic cuts to federal spending and the workforce, drawing sharp criticism from speakers who warned of the dangers of policy-making swayed by wealthy influencers.

The protests capped a turbulent week for the Trump administration. Despite a narrow Republican win in a Florida special congressional election, the result underwhelmed party expectations. Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, a Democratic judge’s landslide victory in a state supreme court race dealt a blow to a Musk-supported Republican contender, signaling potential vulnerabilities for Trump’s allies.

Democratic strategists pointed to growing public frustration with the administration—particularly Musk’s prominence—as a driving force behind the protests and recent electoral shifts. With the 2026 midterms on the horizon, Saturday’s demonstrations could foreshadow a mounting challenge to Trump’s political dominance as opponents seize on the momentum. (ILKHA)