As President Donald Trump continues to rattle global politics with unpredictable statements and controversial policies — from talk of buying Greenland to escalating tariff wars — tens of thousands in the US and around the world took to the streets over the weekend for “Hands Off!” mass action protests.
In London, hundreds of demonstrators gathered in the city’s bustling centre to voice their opposition to the Trump administration and its growing influence on global affairs, including the disruptive actions of his tech billionaire ally Elon Musk.
The protest, one of many coordinated worldwide, zeroed in on several pressing concerns, from democracy and environmental degradation to economic instability and strained international relations.
While Trump’s statements and policies have often drawn criticism, the coordinated nature of this global pushback reflected a mounting frustration shared by many, especially as his actions grow increasingly erratic in both tone and scope.
Among the protesters in London was Helena, a British-Danish demonstrator who made a dramatic statement by dressing as a bruised and battered Statue of Liberty.
For her, Trump’s rhetoric about Greenland — particularly his offhanded suggestion about invading the autonomous Danish territory — was not only alarming but also offensive.
“The Danes are not very happy about the threats to invade Greenland,” Helena said.
Her concerns also went beyond geopolitics. As someone deeply invested in scientific research, she expressed distress over reports of cuts to science funding under the Trump administration, and the broader global trend of undermining evidence-based research.
“I care very much about science funding and about what’s happening to research projects and scientists being defunded,” she said.
“It’s time for that to stop. It has to stop. It’s time for Americans to stand up and be heard and be counted and overthrow Donald Trump.”
Helena also spoke strongly against Trump’s latest round of tariffs, saying his economic moves are not just harmful but intentionally provocative.
“Someone … needs to pull together all of the nations who strongly oppose Trump and oppose his tariffs to bar US imports altogether,” she asserted, identifying Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as a possible leader of this coalition.
“If they want to try and crash our economies, we should crash theirs.”
She went further, advocating for major structural change in transatlantic security arrangements: “We need to kick America out of NATO. We need to rearm fast and we need to be prepared.”
Referring to her friends in Estonia and Poland, Helena described a growing fear in those nations about potential future aggression.
“They are terrified that they are going to be next. We need to get serious about our own defence,” she added.
Dozens of students gathered outside the US Department of Education in Washington DC to protest the Trump Administration’s gutting of the education system and crackdown on students of US universities exercising their rights to free speech
‘The whole world is at the mercy of this man’
Pat, another protester who travelled nearly 48 kilometres (30 miles) from the town of Dorking to join the London rally, brought with her two polar bear teddies — a symbol of the environmental stakes of Trump’s policies, particularly in relation to his interest in Greenland.
“I feel so strongly that everything that Donald Trump is doing is just against the environment, against human beings, and against the animals,” she said.
Pat expressed alarm over what she described as a pattern in Trump’s leadership — grandiose, often destructive plans that are slightly toned down for public consumption but remain harmful in execution.
“He makes all these ridiculous plans and then cuts them back slightly, but he still wants to go ahead with them … When does the UK come in? Are we going to be the 53rd state?” she said.
“The whole world is at the mercy of this man, unless people stand up and protest.”
She also believes that Trump’s escalating tariff policies will ultimately isolate the US and damage its global standing.
“I just think it will make the world unite against the US,” she said.
“Americans have the highest consumption in the whole of the world, and they’re going to be hit badly — all those poor people who just didn’t know what they were voting for when they voted Donald Trump in.”
The march comes as Trump pushes forward with a heavy crackdown on pro-Palestine activism, something protesters argue won't stop with Arabs and Muslims.
‘Americans have to show we do not support him’
Among the crowd was Shane, an American citizen living abroad who felt compelled to show solidarity with the global protest movement and speak out against the Trump administration.
“I think it’s incredibly important for Americans to show the world — to the tiny extent we can — that we do not support Donald Trump,” Shane said. “In large numbers, we do not support him.”
Reflecting on Trump’s controversial remarks about acquiring Greenland and his combative stance toward Canada, Shane expressed hope that they were merely “bluster and a negotiating tactic”, but admitted that nothing was certain with this US administration.
Describing the latest tariff announcement as “damaging”, she emphasised that the ripple effects of such policies go far beyond economics.
“As damaging as they are financially, they are also incredibly damaging to the relationships built … (with) allies. He has destroyed that in a month.”
Shane also highlighted the erosion of American domestic institutions under Trump’s leadership, pointing to diminished care for immigrants, the poor and children’s health.
“It’s going to be a very, very damaging four years in a multitude of ways … He’s already taken down institutions that we cherish, that we’ve built up over more than 50 years — the care for immigrants, for low-income people, for children’s health,” she said.
“He’s damaging these crucial programmes, and not just damaging them, destroying them.”
