Huge crowds gather in ‘Hands Off’ rallies nationwide in protest of Trump administration
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(WASHINGTON) — Tens of thousands of protesters mustered in cities and towns across the country on Saturday to sound off against the Trump administration’s cuts to the federal government and its polices.
Carrying homemade posters and chanting “Hands Off,” the protesters came out to the more than 1,200 rallies nationwide despite rain in many cities, according to organizers.
Several Democratic heavyweights, including some members of Congress, joined the protests and urged the public not to stand for what they called the administration’s mismanagement and breaking with constitutional norms.
“Our founders wrote a Constitution that did not begin with ‘We the dictators,'” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., told the crowd gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
He slammed the administration for several of its policies, including President Donald Trump’s implementing of tariffs on nearly every country.
“Their tariffs are not only imbecilic — they’re illegal, they’re unconstitutional, and we’re going to turn this around,” he said.
Paul Osadebe, a lawyer for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, spoke during the rally in Washington and said he’s been asked by the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to take a buyout offer.
Osadebe, a union steward with AFGE Local 476, told the crowd the oligarchs do not “value you or your life or your community.”
“We’re seeing that they don’t care who they have to destroy or who they have to hurt to get what they want,” he said.
Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., echoed his statement with a warning that it will get worse.
“They would have us believe if we gave them all of control, everything would be OK,” he said. “But breaking news, they have the control, and look at where we are now: massive inequality across the country.”
Similar energy and rhetoric were present at other “Hands Off” protests.
“The federal administration thinks this country belongs to them — and that they’re above the law,” organizers of the Boston rally said. “They’re taking everything they can get their hands on — our rights, our health care, our data, our jobs, our services — and daring the world to stop them.”
There were no reports of any major disturbances or arrests at any of the rallies.
The White House did not have any immediate comment about the events.
(WASHINGTON) — Protesters gathered nationwide Wednesday as part of a movement opposing the Trump administration’s policies and Project 2025, the controversial conservative presidential wish list.
The protests, which took place largely in state capitals, were organized by an online movement dubbed 50501 — meaning 50 protests, 50 states, one day.
The grassroots effort has been organized across social media sites using hashtags #buildtheresistance and #50501, calling on Americans to “fight fascism.”
Protesters marched and gathered in cities including Atlanta, Austin, Boston and Philadelphia, holding signs with messages like “Silence is violence,” “Defend democracy,” “Impeach Trump” and “Death to fascism.”
Vermont college student Andy Cole was among those protesting outside the Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier on Wednesday.
“I came out here today because it’s important for people to be here,” Cole told ABC Montpelier affiliate WVNY. “As a young person, it’s important for me to be here. As a human, it is important for me to be here.”
“I would not be able to sleep at night if I didn’t become engaged and didn’t be active in my community, especially with everything that’s happening right now,” Cole continued.
In the first weeks of his new term, President Donald Trump has signed a slew of executive orders, some of which are already facing legal challenges.
Protesters on Wednesday highlighted Trump’s immigration policies, carrying signs saying “No human is illegal,” as the administration takes unprecedented action to remove as many undocumented migrants from the United States as possible.
Demonstrators also protested actions targeting LGBTQ+ people, the same day that Trump signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from women’s sports. Last week, he signed an order seeking to restrict gender-affirming care for people under the age of 19.
Protesters also called to save the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which oversees foreign aid, disaster relief and international development programs.
Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), said this week he was “in the process” of “shutting down” the agency with the backing of Trump, as part of efforts to trim the size of the federal government and eliminate waste.
Many demonstrators took aim at Musk in particular, highlighting his efforts to dismantle government agencies and gain access to government data. Signs with the message “No one voted for Elon Musk” could be seen at multiple protests.
Vice President JD Vance alluded to that sentiment on X on Wednesday, saying, “They did however vote for Donald Trump who promised repeatedly to have Elon Musk root out wasteful spending in our government.”
Ahead of Wednesday’s day of action, an Instagram account claiming to be the official account of the 50501 movement shared flyers for planned protests with phrases like “Reject fascism” and “We the people reject Project 2025.
A “Declaration of Equal Liberty” posted to the Instagram account claims that Project 2025’s “rhetoric intends to divide, isolate, and alienate our society, as well as dismantle the foundational liberties of our country by attacking our institutions.”
Trump distanced himself from Project 2025 on the campaign trail but went on to nominate several of its authors or contributors to his administration.
ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said on Sunday that if information had been leaked from top Trump national security officials’ Signal chat discussing plans to bomb the Houthis in Yemen, American lives could have been lost.
“I was, yesterday, down in Hampton Roads. I did two big town halls, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake. There are people in the town hall who are either friends or relatives of folks who are on the [aircraft carrier USS Harry S.] Truman. Those folks were saying if their friends or loved ones were flying those jets and that information had been released and the Houthis were able to change their defensive posture, we could have lost American lives,” Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in an interview with co-anchor Martha Raddatz on ABC News’ “This Week.”
On Monday, a journalist revealed that national security adviser Mike Waltz had inadvertently included him in the chat with top Trump officials discussing plans for the Yemen attack. The Trump administration has pushed back against claims that the information included in the chat was classified information.
Warner said, “There is no question, regardless of agency, that this was classified … and those folks who are obfuscating and giving them the benefit of the doubt, I think they’re lying about they should know this is classified.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — Internal communications reviewed by ABC News show that the Trump administration plans to strictly implement an executive order from the president mandating a 90-day freeze on almost all U.S. foreign aid amid a review, a measure that already has sparked widespread concern among humanitarian organizations.
“We get tired of giving massive amounts of money to countries that hate us, don’t we?” President Donald Trump said in a speech during the House Republicans’ annual retreat in Florida on Monday, touting a blizzard of executive actions he had taken since returning to the White House.
In a memo sent to U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) staff over the weekend, a high-level official within the agency stressed their “responsibility” to carry out Trump’s directive and signaled that it would be difficult to secure waivers to continue funding for programs during the pause, which he called “a complete halt.”
“It is important to emphasize that it is no longer business as usual. Every program will be thoroughly scrutinized,” Ken Jackson, USAID’s assistant to the administrator for management and resources, wrote.
Jackson said that the agency’s only exceptions currently in place covered spending on emergency humanitarian food aid and travel for government officials who were returning to their duty stations, adding that employees should be ready “to provide detailed information and justification” for these expenses.
Any waivers for other spending would need to clear multiple hurdles for approval, including proving that the program receiving funding was lifesaving or necessary for U.S. national security.
Failure to comply with the pause or other new policies “will result in disciplinary action,” Jackson warned USAID staff.
A separate memo sent to State Department employees last week which was also reviewed by ABC News instructed officials overseeing projects funded by grants and awards that have already been distributed to issue immediate “stop-work orders,” making exceptions for some travel and administrative expenses, emergency food aid, and foreign military financing to both Egypt and Israel.
An administration official said on Monday that a template for submitting waiver requests had been made available and that the State Department was reviewing numerous applications that had already been submitted, but could not give a timeline for when any decisions would be made.
The State Department officially announced the implementation of the freeze on Sunday.
“Secretary Rubio has paused all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for review,” the department’s spokesperson, Tammy Bruce, said in statement. “He is initiating a review of all foreign assistance programs to ensure they are efficient and consistent with U.S. foreign policy under the America First agenda.”
By then, panic had already set in among international aid groups that rely on U.S. funding. Sources within the international community said the freeze was so expansive that they could hardly believe it was real.
“The recent stop-work cable from the State Department suspends programs that support America’s global leadership and creates dangerous vacuums that China and our adversaries will quickly fill,” InterAction, the largest alliance of international aid organizations, said in a statement.
“This halt interrupts critical life-saving work including clean water to infants, basic education for kids, ending the trafficking of girls, and providing medications to children and others suffering from disease. It stops assistance in countries critical to U.S. interests, including Taiwan, Syria, and Pakistan. And, it halts decades of life-saving work through PEPFAR that helps babies to be born HIV-free,” the statement continued.
Beyond concern for their work, some organizations and officials have also expressed confusion. Many were caught off guard by the State Department’s implementation of Trump’s order, which they initially believed wouldn’t impact programs funded through congressional appropriations.
“The aid community is grappling with just how existential this aid suspension is – we know this will have life or death consequences for millions around the globe, as programs that depend on this funding grind to a halt without a plan or safety net,” Abby Maxman, the president and CEO of Oxfam, said in a statement to ABC News.
“This decision must be reversed, and funding and programming must be allowed to move forward. But at the very least, the administration must communicate clearly so the aid community can plan for the future and determine how to carry on our lifesaving work,” Maxman added.
Critics of the freeze believe dissent from international aid organizations and U.S. officials has been muted due to fear of retribution from the administration.
In his memo to USAID employees, Jackson stipulated that one of the new policies they must comply with if they wished to avoid disciplinary action was a requirement that all external communication, including with the State Department, first be approved by the agency.
