In reaction to Trump administration policies, crowds have amassed in thousands nationwide to protest.

The year 2025 has been filled with protests for the United States. Citizens have attended rallies and taken to the streets to protest a wide array of issues across the nation, and the zeal for protest doesn’t show signs of calming down.

Demonstration topics have shifted in recent years. 2020 was marked by protests against racial injustice and police brutality. 2025 protests have shown up for different reasons: government corruption, ICE, and Elon Musk.

According to data from ACLED, 2025 has also shown a significant increase in protests. From January to May, 2025 has shown more than 7,000 protests nationally; over the same time frame, 2022, 2023, and 2024 had closer to 5,500 protests nationally. 

Protests have not only been numerous but also large. Following the election of Donald Trump as president, the 50501 movement quickly garnered support. The movement was named after the initial goal to host 50 protests in all 50 states on one day; on Feb. 5 more than 80 protests in all 50 states were held, under little to no organization, in reaction to the Trump administration’s actions and policy. The movement would continue to successfully hold demonstrations repeatedly throughout February, March, April, and May. These protests are most notable for their size: for example, the movement’s April 19 “Day of Action” protest had a reported attendance of more than 3 million nationwide. 50501, which calls out the current administration for “executive overreach,” is part of a greater sentiment against the government.

Aside from protesting the Trump administration at large, many demonstrations rally against the arrests of international university students by the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. The first publicly known ICE arrest of an international student was Mahmoud Khalil, a student activist and notable contributor to pro-Palestinian protests, on March 8. Starting on March 11, demonstrations and protests were held in locations across the nation against ICE taking Khalil into custody, which would quickly become compounded with protests against the arrest of additional international students by ICE, including Rümeysa Öztürk and Mohsen Mahdawi.

The arrests were allowed by visa and residency permission revocations, based on the argument that students were “destabilizing” college campuses and supporting “terrorism” in the form of pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protests and sentiments. The arrests were often conducted by ICE agents catching students on the street, lacking standard governmental enforcement wear and usually masked. Detained students would then be transported to ICE detention facilities.

The following days after Khalil’s arrest would feature demonstrations throughout Massachusetts and New York, with more than 100 protesters arrested, and nationwide demonstrations were held over the weekend of March 15-16, including in New York City, Boston, Phoenix, Charlotte, and Miami. More protests against Khalil’s arrest would follow well into April. Significant protests against Öztürk’s arrest would be held on March 26 and April 14; protests against Mahdawi’s detainment on April 15 and 21. Many of these protests mentioned the First Amendment and the right to free speech in arguments against the arrests and detainments.

ICE’s arrest of students is part of a broader campaign of immigrant arrests and deportations, which have similarly faced backlash. Soon after assuming office, President Trump revised immigration policies, allowing for an increase in ICE operations. Over the following days high-profile ICE raids would occur in cities like Denver, New York City, Seattle, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. In reaction, large protests occupied the highways of Los Angeles and Atlanta, marched on government buildings in Philadelphia and Lansing, and rallied in Chicago and Aurora. These protests amassed crowds in the thousands.

Another target of demonstrations are Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency. The Department, better known as DOGE, has spearheaded the Trump administration’s funding cuts, combing through federal funding to reduce unnecessary spending. These cuts, however, have affected a wide range of groups negatively, and the people have taken to the streets.

As DOGE has browsed through the budgets and bills of federal funding the department has cut off crucial funding for many, including researchers, veterans, and those who live in regions of high natural disaster risk. Without these critical funds many have been left stranded, and so in response they’ve taken up their placards. Aside from other demonstrations who had additionally called out DOGE, acts against the department included interrupted town hall meetings, protests against federal employee layoffs, demonstrations outside of SpaceX sites, and rallies protesting DOGE cuts to Social Security.

More pointedly, many have protested the involvement of Elon Musk, billionaire and CEO of Tesla, in the Trump administration and DOGE, giving rise to the ‘Tesla Takedown’ movement. The forefront of demonstrations occurred at Tesla dealerships, with crowds of hundreds up to thousands congregating at these dealerships to protest Musk’s presence in government. A boycott against Tesla is also a landmark of the movement.

Protests haven’t only been grassroots. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in late February began the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour around the country, with massive support. Citizens in the thousands have rallied at the tour’s stops, unhappy with the Democratic party’s reaction to the Trump administration and in resistance to Trump’s alleged plutocracy and oligarchy. 

On March 21 a crowd of 34,000 attended a rally in Denver; this number far exceeded personal records for either Sanders or Ocasio-Cortez, and was an impressive attendance since faith in the Democratic party had wavered for perceived failure in properly combatting the Trump administration. Similarly sized crowds of 36,000, 20,000, and 26,000 would attend rallies in Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, and Folsom, respectively.

Protests have also spread abroad. Numerous military base high school walkouts protesting the Trump administration and revised military DEI policies were held in numerous countries, including Germany and South Korea. Many Tesla Takedown protests were joined by demonstrators in Canada and Europe, and some protests against the Trump administration’s aggressive stance against Canada were held at the U.S.-Canada border, with people from both sides joining in demonstrations.

The United States has long been a nation of protesters. With the enshrined right to free speech citizens from all walks of life have historically taken up placards and rallied before speakers, peacefully demonstrating and participating in government. With the new administration’s controversial policies many have continued the tradition and protested, peacefully speaking their mind, as the people of the United States always have done.

Article by Martín Peredia-Mayorga