By Isa Isawade
The defiant imposition of import tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump is already threatening an Armageddon across the United States of America and beyond.
On Saturday 5 April 2025, crowds of protesters gathered in cities across the U.S. to denounce Trump over the very unpopular policy.
The protests have been huge and simultaneous across the states of America and other places in the world.
According to the BBC, the “Hands Off” protest planners aimed to hold rallies in 1,200 locations, including in all 50 US states.
The medium reports that thousands of people turned out in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Portland and Washington DC.
Others were San Francisco, San Diego, Idaho, Utah, Oakland among other cities.
Beyond America, protests were also held in London, Paris and Berlin.
The protesters were unhappy with the Trump Administration over his social economic policies considered unfriendly.
The protests come days after Trump’s announcement that the US would impose import tariffs on most countries around the world.
Protesters in Boston cited immigration raids on US university students that have led to arrests and deportation proceedings as propellers that unleashed them on the streets.
Law student Katie Smith told BBC News that she was motivated by Turkish international student Rumeysa Ozturk, whose arrest near Boston-area Tufts University by masked US agents was caught on camera last month.
“You can stand up today or you can be taken later,” she said, adding: “I’m not usually a protest girlie,” she is quoted by BBC.
In London, protesters held signs reading, “WTAF America?”, “Stop hurting people” and “He’s an idiot”.
They chanted “hands off Canada”, “hands off Greenland” and “hands off Ukraine”, referencing Trump’s changes to US foreign policy.
Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in annexing Canada and Greenland. He also got into a public dispute with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and has struggled to negotiate a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.
In Washington DC, thousands of protesters gathered to watch speeches by Democratic lawmakers. Many remarks focused on the role played in Trump’s administration by wealthy donors – most notably Elon Musk, who has served as an advisor to the president and spearheaded an effort to dramatically cut spending and the federal workforce, BBC reports.
The Al Jazeera’s reporter in Washington DC, Mike Hanna said the crowd there voiced their discontent over the administration’s sweeping executive actions and the restructuring led by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“The reforms have resulted in the elimination of more than 200,000 federal positions and significant reductions in benefits, particularly within the Internal Revenue Service and Social Security Administration.
“This is one of the biggest demonstrations we’ve seen since Trump began his second term, and it’s perhaps indicative of the rising frustration among Americans,” said Hanna.
She also noted that the protesters spanned various age groups.
Anti Trump slogans also pervaded other places where the protests took place.
Below are more images from the protests:
