Thousands of people across the nation and in the D.C. region protested Saturday with a message to President Donald Trump and Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk: Hands off.
More than 1,200 demonstrations took place on the National Mall in D.C., state capitols and other locations in all 50 states, denouncing the Trump administration and DOGE, which have been working to shrink the federal government by slashing funding and laying off federal workers.
The national day of action, called “Hands Off,” is “a nationwide mobilization to stop the most brazen power grab in modern history,” according to its website. The event was planned by more than 150 groups, including civil rights organizations, labor unions, LBGTQ+ advocates, veterans and elections activists.
Demonstrators across the country criticized Trump and Musk‘s actions on government downsizing, the economy, immigration and human rights. They also voiced anger over the administration’s moves to fire thousands of federal workers, effectively shutter entire agencies, scale back protections for transgender people and cut funding for health programs.
Locally, other smaller “Hands Off” protests took place across Northern Virginia and Maryland, including in Chevy Chase, Silver Spring, Manassas, and Leesburg.
Speaking at the D.C. protest, Paul Osadebe, a lawyer for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and a labor union steward, criticized Trump, Musk and others in the administration for not valuing the work federal employees do in creating “a baseline of economic security and power for working people.”
“Billionaires and oligarchs don’t value anything other than profit and power, and they sure as hell don’t value you or your life or your community,” he said. “And we’re seeing that they don’t care who they have to destroy or who they have to hurt to get what they want.”
Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign advocacy group, also spoke at the D.C. protest, criticizing the Trump administration’s treatment of the LBGTQ+ community.
“The attacks that we’re seeing, they’re not just political. They are personal, y’all,” she said. “They’re trying to ban our books, they’re slashing HIV prevention funding, they’re criminalizing our doctors, our teachers, our families and our lives. This is Donald Trump’s America and I don’t want it y’all. We don’t want this America, y’all. We want the America we deserve, where dignity, safety and freedom belong not to some of us, but to all of us.”
Dr. Davis, who says she’s a product of the Civil Rights era, told WTOP she believes the country has gone backwards under the Trump Administration.
“It has to stop,” she said. “This isn’t my first rally and it won’t be my last.”
Of those who attended Saturday’s protest were many former and current members of the military that voiced their displeasure on how Trump is handling the country. Retired Army veteran Roseanne Rodriguez said she took a pledge to protect and uphold the Constitution when she was in the military and it has not stop since she got out.
“Our rights are under attack. Our military is under attack. And everything under the (Veterans Affairs) VA is under attack,” Retired U.S. Navy veteran Christopher Hooper said.
The nationwide rallies took place as a pro-Palestinian march also occurred from Pennsylvania Avenue and 3rd Street NW to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters near L’Enfant Plaza.
White House reacts
The expected demonstrations have caused the White House to change the date of its Spring Garden Tours. The tours were initially going to take place Saturday and Sunday. The tours will now only be on Sunday at the same allocated times.
“This decision has been made out of an abundance of caution and to ensure the safety of all within proximity to public demonstrations planned near the White House on Saturday, April 5,” the White House said in a release.
When asked about the protests, the White House said in a statement that, “President Trump’s position is clear: he will always protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid for eligible beneficiaries. Meanwhile, the Democrats’ stance is giving Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare benefits to illegal aliens, which will bankrupt these programs and crush American seniors.”
Activists have staged nationwide demonstrations against Trump or Musk multiple times since the new administration took power. But the opposition movement has yet to produce a mass mobilization like the Women’s March in 2017, which brought thousands of women to Washington, D.C., after Trump’s first inauguration, or the Black Lives Matter demonstrations that erupted in multiple cities after George Floyd’s killing in 2020.
WTOP’s Jimmy Alexander and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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