More than 1,100 “Hands Off!” protests and meetings are planned in nationwide demonstrations across all 50 states on Saturday in what organizers say are a response to the dramatic cuts to the federal workforce overseen by Trump adviser and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
“Donald Trump and Elon Musk think this country belongs to them,” the organizers say on their website. “They’re taking everything they can get their hands on, and daring the world to stop them.”
Citing what they see as President Trump’s moves to gut services, including the eventual “slashing” of Social Security and Medicaid, a coalition of more than 150 organizations — including Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Service Employees International Union, the American Civil Liberties Union, League of Women Voters and Greenpeace — will take part in Saturday’s demonstrations.
“Nearly 100 days in, President Donald Trump has kept his promises to go after his enemies, but not in order to help Americans. With Elon Musk at his side, he’s attacking the foundations of opportunity: public education, healthcare, collective bargaining and Social Security,” the American Federation of Teachers wrote in a Facebook post. “This Saturday, April 5, we’re joining thousands nationwide to say: Hands off our Social Security. Hands off our public schools. Hands off our jobs.”
Trump and Musk have said that the job cuts are needed to address the growing national debt and balance the federal budget.
“The country is going bankrupt. A country is no different from a person. If a country overspends and doesn’t spend wisely, just like a person, a country will go bankrupt,” Musk said in an interview with Fox News Business in March.
A poster advertises “Hands Off!” protests scheduled for this weekend. (Image courtesy “Hands Off!”)
While mass protests are planned in big cities and small towns across the country, the largest could take place in Washington, D.C., where demonstrators will gather on the National Mall.
“Parking will be limited due to crowd size and location. Attendees are encouraged to take public transit to the National Mall,” organizers said in an email.
The White House Spring Garden Tours that had been scheduled for Saturday were postponed by a day “out of an abundance of caution to ensure the safety of all within proximity to public demonstrations planned near the White House,” the Office of the First Lady said in a Thursday press release.
Protest organizers said on their website that a “core principle” of the demonstrations was “a commitment to nonviolent action,” and held a training session on how to de-escalate tensions with police and counterprotesters.
As of March 29, over 250,000 people had RSVP’d on the “Hands Off!” website that they planned to attend demonstrations. In Florida alone, there are 45 demonstrations planned, including some near Trump’s residence and private golf club in Palm Beach, the Florida Times-Union reported.
A protest movement against Trump and Musk has been building in recent weeks. On March 29, so-called “Tesla Takedown” demonstrations were held at hundreds of Tesla dealerships across the country. Since then, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey delivered the longest speech in Senate history, urging Americans to respond to Trump’s policies by engaging in what former civil rights icon John Lewis called “good trouble.”
While he may not join the “Hands Off!” demonstrations on Saturday, former Vice President Mike Pence did offer his own form of protest to Trump’s tariffs on Thursday.
“The Trump Tariff Tax is the largest peacetime tax hike in U.S. history,” Pence wrote in a post on X. “These Tariffs are nearly 10x the size of those imposed during the Trump-Pence Administration and will cost American families over $3,500 per year.”
