We Went to the Anti-Trump Protests. Here’s What Surprised Us the Most.

Last week, nationwide protests targeted Elon Musk for his role in dismantling government agencies and firing federal workers through the White House DOGE Office.

This week, they are targeting the man who gave him that role: President Donald Trump.

In coordinated demonstrations that organizers said took place across all 50 states, the “Hands Off!” protest accused Trump and his administration of championing policies that benefit the rich while making life harder for everyone else.

Business Insider sent reporters to protests in different parts of the country to hear from them directly. Many said they were most worried about the economy and their retirement investments, which have dwindled in tandem with Trump’s tariff announcements. The crowds also skewed older compared to protests during Trump’s first term.

Here’s what they told us and what surprised us the most.

New York City

As I rode the train from Brooklyn to Midtown Manhattan, the subway car filled with protesters, their cardboard signs bumping up against umbrellas on a rainy Saturday in New York.

By 1 p.m., the 42nd Street station was even more crowded than usual. Older people clutched slippery canes, and young kids clutched their parents’ hands. One man wore a once trendy Harris Walz camo hat. Another waved a small American flag, an unusual display of patriotism at anti-Trump rallies.

The damp horde of protesters shuffled toward Bryant Park, and in some ways, it all felt familiar. There were chants about abortion, signs featuring the face of now-deceased Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a progressive icon, and a steady cacophony of car horns.

But some things were different this time.

For one, the crowd looked older, with middle-aged Americans seeming to outnumber the 20-somethings that dominated rallies during the pandemic. It makes sense since many Americans are watching their retirement savings dwindle in the face of crashing markets and worry that staff cuts to the Social Security Administration could impact the crucial safety net.

While the anti-government protests held during Trump’s first term focused on social issues — like abortion and civil rights issues — many of the signs today targeted the economy.

Most of the people I spoke to didn’t want to share their last names because they worried about their privacy in the current political environment. Yet they weren’t shy about their rage and despair.

Dorothy Auer, 62, told me she wished people would get angrier.

“I’ve been working for over 40 years, and I looked at my investments yesterday — my retirement plan — and I literally don’t think I’ll ever be able to retire,” she said, starting to choke up.

Wiping her eyes with her free hand — the other held a black and white sign bashing Musk — Auer told me it’s distressing to see a man of such wealth “turn around and crap on us.”

Jian, 33, held a sign that read, “Tariffs are killing my 401(k),” but he told me he’s most upset about what’s happening to his retired father.

“My dad just lost about 25% of his savings in the last three days because of the tariffs,” he said.

It’s not just the economy, of course, that brought thousands of people out to Midtown Manhattan.

Penny, 54, said the Trump administration affected virtually every issue she cares about. Even so, we ended up talking about Musk.

“I’m horrified that a person who wasn’t born here, wasn’t elected, seems to be getting carte blanche to do whatever he wants in our government,” she said. “How did he get a security clearance?”

Most of those I talked to as they slowly trudged toward Madison Square Park didn’t think the protest would change Trump’s mind.

A few said they hoped Congress would pay attention, but more than that, people said they felt they needed to do something.

“Even if it’s sort of hopeless right now, at least it’s showing people that we’re here,” Pyare, 49, told me. “And that we don’t like it.”

Novi, Michigan

Another week, another protest.

On Saturday, I attended the Hands Off! rally in Novi, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit where 55% of the vote went to Kamala Harris during the election. Thousands of people showed up.

The crowd was emotionally charged and united by the spirit of collective action. Many attendees said they were first-time protesters. The Tesla Takedown protests I attended last weekend seemed somber by comparison. Protesters here got loud.

“Call me Old Lady Army Fighting for Democracy,” one 66-year-old woman, who didn’t want to give her real name, told me. She held up a sign she had made. It was a charcoal drawing of the Statue of Liberty, whose hands covered her eyes in shame.

“I just copied this off of Facebook,” she said. But to her it symbolized “everything that our country stands for is being destroyed, and the world is looking at us.”

Liana Gettel, 58, said she was outraged for several reasons, including the administration’s stance on abortion. She said she had an abortion 29 years ago.

“I had lost a child. The child would not come out on its own. So I had to have a procedure. Had I not had that procedure, I wouldn’t be here,” she said. “And that’s what they want to block, is things like that?”

Protesters targeted many different issues, including abortion, trans, and minority rights. One protester holding up a sign for trans rights said, “Trans people are just the appetizer, but everyone will be on the menu now.”

The line echoed remarks made by human rights advocate Channyn Lynne Parker at the Rally for Trans Visibility in Chicago last weekend.

Unlike protests during Trump’s first term, which focused on social issues, however, many people today were also worried about the president’s economic policies.

Matt Watts said he was protesting Musk’s takeover of Social Security and Trump’s tariffs on “countries that don’t deserve it.” After the stock market began to take a hit from all the talk of tariffs, Watts said he took his money out of his 401(k) and invested it into a more stable fund. “I’m getting ready to retire pretty soon. I’ve got to count on that savings,” he said.

The majority of protesters were middle-aged or older, but they managed to capture some younger activists with their energy.

Yajat Verma, 18, said he hadn’t known about the protest but was driving by with a friend when he saw the crowd. He decided to join in and started handing out water bottles to protesters.

“Everyone should be protesting,” he said.