On Wednesday, protesters gathered in cities across the US to oppose the early actions of the Trump administration. They voiced their concerns about various issues, including the President's immigration policies, the reversal of transgender rights protections, and a plan to forcibly relocate Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

Demonstrators in Philadelphia and at state capitols across states like California, Minnesota, Michigan, Texas, Wisconsin, and elsewhere held signs criticising President Donald Trump, billionaire Elon Musk (who leads Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency), and Project 2025, a right-wing plan for the future of American government and society. “I’m appalled by democracy’s changes in the last, well, specifically two weeks, but it started a long time ago,” Margaret Wilmeth said at a protest outside the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. “So I’m just trying to put a presence into resistance.”

The movement behind the protests was organised online using the hashtags #50501 (50 protests, 50 states, one day) and #buildtheresistance. With slogans like "defend our democracy" and "reject fascism," websites and social media accounts made appeals for action. A crowd of hundreds gathered outside the state Capitol in Lansing, Michigan, despite the freezing temperatures. Catie Miglietti, from the Ann Arbor area, expressed concern about Musk’s access to Treasury Department data. She created a sign showing Musk controlling Trump like a puppet with his raised arm, which reminded some people of Musk’s straight-arm gesture in a speech from January that some interpreted as a Nazi salute. “If we don’t stop it and get Congress to do something, it’s an attack on democracy,” Miglietti said.

Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency were criticised severely across various cities in the United States. “DOGE is not legit,” read one poster on the state Capitol steps in Jefferson City, Missouri, where dozens of protesters gathered. “Why does Elon have your Social Security info???” Congressmen have voiced concerns that DOGE's participation in the US government payment system would result in security breaches or late payments for Social Security and Medicare, among other programs. An IT executive working with DOGE will have "read-only access," according to a Treasury Department official. In the first few weeks of his new term, Trump signed several executive orders covering issues like trade, immigration, and climate change. As Democrats begin to voice their opposition to his plans, protests have increased.

People marched through downtown Austin, Texas. Others gathered at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta for a march to Georgia’s state Capitol and some protested outside the Democratic-controlled Legislature in Sacramento, California. In Denver, protests took place at the same time as nearby operations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, resulting in some people being detained. Meanwhile, in Phoenix, protesters chanted slogans like “deport Elon” and “no hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here.” “We need to show strength,” said Laura Wilde, a former public school occupational therapist in Austin. “I think we’re in a state of shock.” Hallie Parten, 28, carried a Democratic presidential campaign sign that was changed to read, "Harris Walz Were Right," amid thousands of protesters in St. Paul, Minnesota. She was driven by terror, according to the Minneapolis resident. “Fear for what is going to happen to our country if we don’t all just do something about it,” Parten said.

At Iowa's Capitol in Des Moines, protesters who were against Trump entered the building to disrupt an event organised by the conservative group Moms for Liberty, which supports parental rights. The protesters shouted over the speakers in the rotunda for about 15 minutes before law enforcement pushed them outside, arresting four demonstrators. In Alabama, several hundred people gathered outside the Statehouse to protest actions against LGBTQ+ people.

Governor Kay Ivey of Alabama pledged on Tuesday to sign legislation stating that there are only two sexes: male and female. This is in line with Trump's recent executive order directing the federal government to define sex as either male or female. “The president thinks he has a lot of power,” the Rev. Julie Conrady, a Unitarian Universalist minister, told the crowd. “He does not have the power to determine your gender. He does not have the power to define your identity.”