Right now our country is in a state of emergency and we need immediate intervention. There is a war on our education. There is a war on our media. There is a war on our healthcare. There is a war on our economy. There is a war on our democracy. And most importantly, there is a war on the American people.
But the American people will not stand for this, we refuse to be silent. And we are especially not afraid to step up to a king, a dictator, and a tyrant. So we protest. We protest against the corrupt Trump Administration and their destructive policies and we win. And let me tell you, we are very content with being the opposition because when our fellow Americans are hurting, we see that is a direct attack against us and the very principles of this country. So right now, in the 21st century, we, the American republic, are protesting against the 47th President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump, “Enemy of the People.”
The Democratic Resistance – “History Does not Forgive Silence.”
Nationwide Protests
Americans have refused to keep quiet about their distaste for the Trump Administration and they have been fighting back, from inauguration to present day. And they are not only fighting for their fellow Americans, but for their neighbors, their friends, their families, and their children. What’s more is that as our anger grows, our protests only gain momentum, our drive unshakable and our passion unmatched.
Firstly, a set 50501 (50 states, 50 protests, 1 movement) protests took place on Feb. 5, and these Americans were protesting against the shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Elon Musk’s involvement in the government and the now dismantled Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), raised grocery prices, Trump’s crackdown on immigrants, the complete denouncement of transgender rights, and of course, the playbook of Republicans: “Project 2025.”
Secondly, there was another set of 50501 protests on Feb. 17 called “Not my President’s Day” and this date is significant because these protests actually took place on President’s Day. And these protests were held to call attention to Trump’s monarchical and fascist actions and to defend democracy.
Thirdly, there was yet another set of 50501 protests that took place on March 4 because Trump had just issued his joint address to Congress. And their main message that they wanted to get across to the American people was that Trump’s Presidency is dangerous and totally un – American. Also, these protesters even raised upside – down American Flags at our Capitol to show that our country is in a crisis and they hoisted Palestinian and Ukrainian flags as well to show their support to these countries. Additionally, some protesters wore yellow in solidarity to Ukraine.
In addition to that, some of the signs these protesters held at this third 50501 protest were partially of note. For example, some of their signs called Trump a “Russian Asset”, “Putin’s Puppet”, “Wannabe King”, and so forth. There were also signs that showed support of transgender rights and abortion rights and diversity. There were even more simple signs that read, “Save Our Parks” and then there were more complex signs that read “Where Law Ends, Tyranny Begins.” And a particular protester even described Elon Musk’s involvement in government as a “Billionaire Coup.”
Next, there was a series of “Hands Off!” protests that took place on April 5, and according to organizers, millions of people turned out to participate in over 1,300 peaceful protests. These protesters advocated for democracy and denounced the hostile takeover by Republicans and the attack on their American rights and freedoms. According to CNN, organizers also have three demands: the end of the billionaire takeover and corruption within the Trump Administration, the end of the slashing of federal funds used for Medicaid, Social Security, and other programs, and the end of the attacks on immigrants, trans people, and other communities.
Then, there was a “Day of Action” organized by 50501 on April 19 and these Americans protested against mass deportations, cuts to education and research, and executive overreach. These demonstrators also expressed concern for authoritarianism, attacks on marginalized groups, and corruption within the Trump Administration.
On top of that, there were May Day protests organized by May Day Strong, 50501, and countless other organizations on May 1 and this date is significant because these protests took place on Labor Day. Their slogan is “Workers Over Billionaires” and they plan to fight against the elimination of thousands of federal jobs, immigrant raids, and Elon Musk’s involvement in the government. Their signs also had messages that read “Stop Trump’s War on Workers” and “Immigrants Built This Country.”
Together with that, the first set of the major No Kings protests were held on June 14 with over 5 million Americans in attendance. This date is also noteworthy because these protests were held during Trump’s birthday parade. The ultimate goal of these protests is to give power back to the people and these demonstrators fought against the national guard being sent to American cities, the silencing of voters, billionaire tax cuts, and championed democracy over dictatorship. Also, these protests were mainly organized by Indivisible, 50501, Public Citizen, The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), MoveOn, The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), and United We Dream (UWD).
Finally, the second set of the major No Kings protests were held Oct. 18, and over 7 million Americans attended over 2,700 events in all 50 states. These Americans protested against Trump’s threat to democracy, his administration’s ICE raids, the deployment of the National Guard in U.S. cities, and cuts to federal programs, including healthcare. These protests were also mainly organized by Indivisible, the ACLU, 50501, Public Citizen, the AFT, the SEIU, the HRC, MoveOn, UWD, Common Defense, and The League of Conservation Voters (LCV).
Then, Kirsten Jordan, a Respiratory Therapist, expressed what she thought about these nationwide protests against the Trump Administration.
“People are going to have to start making decisions that actually relate to American people and not just the rich 1%. And these Trump policies were not built to protect the American people or the minority,” Jordan said.
The “Tools” of Trump
From Sept. 17 – 22, Jimmy Kimmel’s late – night talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, was suspended and Americans were outraged. This suspension was also directly following the comments Kimmel made about the killing of Charlie Kirk and Americans saw this as an attack on our freedom of speech. This order of suspension was directly endorsed by Donald Trump as well, giving us a prime example of this authoritarianism because he’s trying to silence media outlets that are critical of him and his supporters.
But Americans are not going to stand idly by while they feel like their rights are being violated. So they protested. Moreover, since this suspension was carried out by ABC who is owned by Disney, Americans staged a full boycott on all Disney programs and services. Additionally, over 400 hundred celebrities including Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep, signed a letter with the ACLU, to show their disapproval of ABC’s decision.
And in a matter of just five days, Disney lost $5 billion in market value and ABC rushed to get Jimmy Kimmel back on the air.
Furthermore, while these protests were good in the fact that they were successful, it’s also sad because it seems like the only thing that will truly get through to Republicans and MAGA supporters is our money. It’s sad to think that these corporations care more about getting our money than about fighting for the rights of American people. So, I would call corporations like Disney, a tool of Trump because it is something that he indirectly used to cause Americans harm. And it’s easier to protest against the tools of Trump rather than Trump himself.
John Payne, a Robotics Engineer, also explained what he thought about Trump trying to silence the press or the media.
“I think that unfortunately this is how he has achieved all of this success, he seeks to control the media. He also wants to discredit other people’s opinions that go against his and he doesn’t want anything to be believed other than what comes out his own mouth,” Payne said.
I would also call Tesla, another, more indirect tool of Trump because of its involvement with Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, and his once heavy involvement with Trump and the government. But of course, Americans will not stand for this either and they will do everything they can to combat the Trump Administration. And again Americans protest. They protest against Tesla. They protest against DOGE. And they even protest Elon Musk himself because there is no way the richest man in the world should have any say in politics and that’s when oligarchy starts to form and spread its roots deep into our country. Plus, the organization that specially protests against Tesla is called Tesla Takedown.
Another tool of Trump is Home Depot because their parking lots have recently become an epicenter for immigration raids. They’ve even coined the name, “Home Deportation” and again, the reason I think of this company as a tool of Trump is because it has conceded to him and let him carry out his destructive agenda.
And a more specific tool of Trump would even be ICE themselves because they are the ones directly carrying out the Trump agenda. His agenda being to patrol American suburbs, chase immigrants down streets, smash their widows, body slam them to the ground, and forcibly rip teachers away from their daycare students.
What’s more is that according to the National Immigration Law Center, these detainees included non – criminals with about 73% of the people arrested in 2025 having no criminal record whatsoever. These detainees also included people of various statuses like green card holders, Temporary Protected Status recipients (TPS), Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients (DACA), and even U.S. citizens. In addition to that, the people who were arrested included those who were vulnerable, such as pregnant people, nursing mothers, individuals with disabilities, the medically vulnerable, including those with brain tumors and cancer, veterans, and people with U.S. citizen children, catapulting the child mental health crisis.
But Americans then again exercised their right to protest and staged a boycott on Home Depot. And Chicagoans especially did something really amazing when everyday passers by stopped without any earlier planning and directly confronted ICE, running them out of their city. Also, people have also designated themselves as “Whistle Blowers” in Chicago because they were using whistles to alert immigrants if ICE was in the area.
Payne illustrated what he thought about Trump’s cruel immigration policies too and related these arrests and deportations to other events in history.
“The concentration camps are reminiscent of slavery as well because African Americans separated from their parents and sold off,” Payne said. “And this harsh immigration policy even parallels the holocaust. Additionally, Trump’s family are immigrants so him being highly prejudiced against immigrants, and particularly those who are of Latin Americans, is hypocritical.”
Universities Take a Stand Against Trump
Also, the Trump Administration has attacked our schools with the means of trying to control higher public education and while some have conceded, others have not, and have continued to fight for the rights that students deserve. Also, these universities that have specifically been targeted by Trump are responding to frozen funding, demands to eliminate their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs (DEI), or investigations into campus antisemitism.
The prime example of universities that have fought back against Trump is Harvard University because they have loudly and very publicly announced their displeasure with this administration. And they also mentioned that they were not afraid to take a stand against Trump and his lackeys. Moreover, Harvard is suing the Trump Administration for freezing nearly $9 billion in federal grants and contracts. Along with that, Harvard’s President stated, “No government… should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.”
Not to mention, the President of Princeton University called this administration’s actions the “greatest threat to American universities since the Red Scare of the 1950s,” when they were facing the suspension of numerous research grants.
John Hopkins University has also stood up to the Trump Administration through legal action, public advocacy, and internal self – funding initiatives and this resistance is in direct response to significant cuts in federal research funding and legal challenges to its DEI programs. The President of John Hopkins University also called this administration’s actions “attacks” on their research and mission. He warned Americans of future “catastrophic” disruptions to their global and domestic health projects.
Lastly, both Cornell and Northwestern University were vocal in their opposition towards Trump and they both faced significant cuts to their federal funding because of alleged “civil rights violations.”
Then, Payne conveyed how he felt about DEI being terminated by Trump on a larger scale.
The 2025 Election
Democrats also had countless victories on Nov. 4, winning up and down the ballot and from coast to coast. Firstly, Democrat Abigail Spanberger won the race for Governor in Virginia, becoming the first woman to do so. Secondly, Democrat Mikie Sherrill won the race for Governor of New Jersey, becoming the first Democratic woman to do so. Thirdly, Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani won the race for Mayor of New York City, becoming the first Muslim, Ugandan born man of South Asian descent to accomplish this.
Then, Democrat Ghazala Hashmi won the race for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, becoming the first Muslim woman to accomplish this. After that, Jay Jones won the race for Attorney General of Virginia, becoming the first African American to do so and overcame controversy. Finally, Proposition 50 (Prop. 50), an amendment that would redraw congressional districts to give Democrats 5 more seats in the House, was passed in California.
Additionally, other consequential elections took place on Nov. 4 as well including, Democrats expanding their control over the Virginia House of Delegates by flipping 13 seats, Democrats gaining a supermajority in New Jersey’s General Assembly, the retention of three liberal – leaning state Supreme Court Judges in Pennsylvania, Democrats flipping two seats in Georgia’s statewide Public Service Commission, and Democrats flipping two seats in for Mississippi in Senate and one seat in the House, breaking Republican supermajority.
Moreover, what makes these elections so noteworthy is that Democrats generally won by very wide margins. For example, Governor – elect Abigail Spanberger defeated her opponent by 15 points and won 57.3% of the vote. Also, Governor – elect Mikie Sherrill gained 56.6% of the votes and achieved a double – point victory. On top of that, 64.4% of voters voted “yes” on Prop. 50 in California.
Jordan also explained why there was such a Democratic shift during the elections and if this was foreshadowing for future elections like the 2026 midterms.
“Trump’s Lame Duck Era”
Trump has now entered his “lame duck era” which means that an elected official is serving at the end of their term and this phrase is categorized by reduced power and influence. And I say this because Trump is losing his power. His comments are getting more and more deranged by the day, the American people are outraged at his policies and actions, and most of all, Trump is losing his grip or should I say control over his own Republican allies and constituents.
You see, Republicans have had a revelation and they have realized that their allegiance with Trump will only serve to hurt them in the long run. Republicans are not blind, they just see what they want to see and then craft an entirely different narrative. But mass protests from Americans, plummeting approval ratings, democratic sweeps in elections, and most importantly, hurting Americans in their communities, is something that they cannot ignore.
So, they turn their backs on Trump and try to hastily get back on the right side of history. Yet, this shouldn’t come as a surprise because all that we have come to see from Republicans is selfishness, greed, and cruel indifference. Don’t forget that they sacrificed their morals and beliefs in the first place to stand behind Trump and carry out his divisive agenda, and in the end achieve success and political power. But now that Republicans see they might not get a return on their investment, especially after these recent blue wave elections, they are in total self preservation mode. And they also know that one thing will be true after Trump’s term is up in just three years: they will still be here and have to deal with the mess that has been made of America while Trump will not.
Anyhow, one of the specific things that Republicans have done to defy Trump is to challenge his legislative demands. For instance, several Republican lawmakers in Indiana recently voted down a Trump – backed plan for mid – cycle congressional redistricting that would favor their party, despite the intense pressure from Trump and JD Vance to adopt this bill. Furthermore, 21 Republican Senators voted with Democrats to block this redistricting measure.
Republicans refused Trump’s demands to gut the filibuster, a prolonged speech that obstructed progress in a legislative assembly but did not violate the law, as well during the government shutdown, and they were able to maintain traditional chamber rules of needing a supermajority of 60 Senators. Along with that, Florida Republicans sided with California Democrats to oppose Trump’s plan to expand offshore drilling because of environmental and economic concerns.
And we cannot go without mentioning Marjorie Taylor Greene who was once one of Trump’s loyal supporters, but now she has completely broken away from him. For instance, she recently claimed that Trump was “tone deaf” when it came to inflation and domestic issues. And she even announced that she will be resigning from Congress in January because of the widening riff between her and Trump. However, we should not forget that she showed us what her true character was when she decided to side with Trump in the first place and she is only now standing up to Trump because she sees that the people in her communities and in her districts are hurting.
Unpopular President
Trump is becoming increasingly unpopular with Americans too, with his approval ratings dropping to record time lows. For example, according to Gallup, Trump’s approval rating has dropped to an all time low with only 36% of Americans approving of how he has handled his job as president in Nov. And this is the lowest it has been during this second term while his disapproval rating is climbing to 60%. Also, Republicans’ approval rating of Trump has fallen to 84%, Independents’ approval ratings have slipped to 25%, and Democrats’ approval ratings of Trump remain in the single digits at 3%.
What’s more is that only 33% of Americans approve of how Trump is handling the situation in the Middle East between Israelis and Palestinians, only 31% approve of the federal budget, only 31% approve of the situation in Ukraine, and only 30% approved of his healthcare policy. In addition to that, only 14% of Americans approve of how Congress was handling its job in Nov., while 80% disapproved.
It is evident in this data that Americans truly don’t approve of the policies Trump is enforcing and how he’s handling key issues like affordable healthcare, and they’re backing this up with their constitutional right to protest. It’s also sad that Americans feel like they can’t trust their own congressional leaders to actually step up and make the right decisions for them, and this mistrust and disapproval only deepened after the 43 – day government shutdown, the longest in American history.
Together with that, Jordan indicated why Trump is becoming increasingly unpopular with Americans.
Ultimately, I have compiled these events to show that no matter how bad things might seem right now, there is still light at the end of the tunnel, and the sun will rise again. Afterall, something is not worth having, if you don’t have to fight for it because unfortunately, the things we cherish and value the most are the things we fight for. We have fought for our independence, our freedom, equality, and even the right to exist, and now we are fighting to preserve America after it has been tarnished by a cruel excuse for a president. A president who is supposed to be our commander in chief but is instead commanding his constituents to make Americans suffer.
At any rate, we will continue to fight back against this administration and we will win. We will tip the balanced scales of America in our favor and will try to bring back some semblance of democracy and order. And we will get America back on track towards progression and continue to advance society. Lastly, we will pledge to serve, advocate, and represent the American people because “We the People” means each and everyone of us, and we all uniquely contribute to making America great.
