Mass protests against Donald Trump’s domestic and foreign policy have taken place in the United States. Actions under the slogan “Hands off!” were held in all 50 states of the country, affecting all major cities, including New York and Los Angeles. Opinion polls show that Trump’s popularity is declining, though not among his nuclear electorate. Nevertheless, the start of mass protests against the president, when he has not been in power for even a hundred days, is a bad sign for him.
In total, over 1,200 demonstrations took place. Although representatives and even congressmen from the Democratic Party took part in many of them, it is impossible to call “Hands off!” a party event. About 150 public organizations stood behind the actions, united by a common rejection of the policies of the president and his entourage, as well as certain aspects of this policy. Therefore, different endings were added to the main slogan of the protests: “Hands off democracy,” “Hands off education,” etc. Most often, billionaire and Trump adviser Elon Musk was attacked by the protesters. Among the protesters were civil servants, that is, those whose numbers he plans to reduce through mass layoffs.
For Musk, there was a “black streak”. Not only are the orders of his DOGE organization ignored by officials appointed by Trump himself, but the billionaire is losing the courts. He suffered a humiliating defeat last week. The state of Wisconsin elected a judge of the Supreme Court. Bret Schimel, whom Musk personally campaigned for, lost with 45% of the vote. And Susan Crawford, supported by Democrats, won. 54% voted for her. By local standards, this is a very significant advantage. This is Trump’s first electoral defeat since coming to power. It’s especially disappointing considering that he beat Kamala Harris in Wisconsin in November. Only 1% voted for Trump here, but this did not make this “trophy” any less valuable.
Wisconsin was one of the swing states. That is, to those where the number of sympathizers of Republicans and Democrats is traditionally approximately equal, or neither party prevails over the other strongly enough. Trump won the presidential election in all the swing states, and in the first months after that, the so-called independent voters were generally in favor of the president. Now, according to polls, the situation is changing dramatically. So, according to a study commissioned by The Wall Street Journal, only 46% of Americans support the president’s activities. 51%, on the contrary, disapprove of it. According to an Ipsos poll, 53% of Americans believe that the country is moving in the wrong direction. Only 32% hold the opposite opinion.
At the same time, polls show that Trump has not lost the trust of his nuclear electorate.: This is about 10-15% of the population, which Americans call, according to the Trumpist slogan, the MAGA movement (Make America Great Again – let’s make America great again). They still approve of the president’s policies, even his tariff war with the whole world, which other Americans do not support. Perhaps Trump will never lose this category of voters. But he may lose the support of Republican voters.
Polls show that one of the main reasons for Americans’ discontent is the government’s economic policy. It cannot curb inflation and at the same time embarks on risky experiments – the same increase in duties on foreign goods. Trump claims that he will create new jobs in the country and attract additional investments with tariff wars. “Hold on. It won’t be easy, but the result will be historic. We will make America great again,” the president wrote on the Truth Social network. But so far there are no visible results of his actions, and the creation of not the best psychological environment for doing business is obvious.
Politico, citing sources, claims that Trump discussed with Musk the possibility of the latter’s resignation. Allegedly, the president wants to increase his own popularity in this way. White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt categorically denied this information. However, the speculation that Trump will soon break up with the unpopular Mask has not decreased in the press and social networks. The president himself demonstrates absolute equanimity. During the protests, which took place near his Florida residence Mar-a-Lago, Trump played golf as if nothing had happened.
