Thousands gather in Washington to protest Trump inauguration

Published January 18, 2025
People attend the “People’s March on Washington” ahead of the presidential inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump in Washington, US, Jan 18. — Reuters
People attend the “People’s March on Washington” ahead of the presidential inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump in Washington, US, Jan 18. — Reuters

Several thousand people, mostly women, gathered in Washington on Saturday to protest US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, with some wearing the pink hats that marked the much larger protest against his first inauguration in 2017.

In Franklin Park, one of three kickoff locations for the “People’s March” that will wind through downtown, protesters gathered in light rain to rally for gender justice and bodily autonomy.

Other protesters gathered at two other parks near the White House, with one group focused on democracy and immigration and another on local Washington issues, before heading toward the march’s final gathering at the Lincoln Memorial. Police cars, with sirens on, drove between the kickoff locations.

Protests against Trump’s inauguration are much smaller than in 2017, in part because the US women’s rights movement fractured after Trump defeated US Vice President Kamala Harris in November.

Vendors hawked buttons that said “#MeToo” and “Love trumps Hate”, and sold People’s March flags for $10. Demonstrators carried posters that read “Feminists v Fascists” and “People over Politics”.

“It’s really healing to be here with all of you today in solidarity and togetherness, in the face of what’s going to be some really horrible extremism,” Mini Timmaraju, the head of advocacy group Reproductive Freedom for All, told the crowd as events kicked off.

She said the good news was that abortion rights remain popular despite Trump’s win, leading a chant of “We are the majority!”

Reproductive groups joined civil rights, environment and other women’s groups in organising the march against Trump and his agenda as he prepares to take office on Monday.

Trump won all seven battleground states and the popular vote in November’s election.

Opinion

Editorial

A year later
Updated 08 Feb, 2025

A year later

A war of egos has been fought between a handful of individuals at the cost of the well-being of millions of ordinary Pakistanis.
Wheat decision
08 Feb, 2025

Wheat decision

THE federal decision to stop setting the minimum support price for wheat and cease the staple’s procurement...
Dhanmondi attack
08 Feb, 2025

Dhanmondi attack

HISTORY has shown that unless states deliver development and equal rights to all, disenfranchised people can target...
Depopulating Gaza
Updated 07 Feb, 2025

Depopulating Gaza

The least feasible "solution" is the Trumpian plan for Gaza’s ethnic cleansing and occupation, which is a non-starter.
‘Pause’ in US aid
07 Feb, 2025

‘Pause’ in US aid

THE impact of the Trump administration’s decision to ‘pause’ all US foreign aid programmes, especially those...
Mobilising opposition
07 Feb, 2025

Mobilising opposition

POLITICS makes strange bedfellows. There has not, for quite some time, been a guest list as intriguing as the one...