Hundreds of protests are set to take place across the country this weekend, including dozens in Oregon, in what organizers are calling the largest coordinated demonstration against President Donald Trump’s administration to date.

More than 800 protests are planned for Saturday across all 50 states and some international locations. More than two dozen will occur in Oregon, including in communities that have historically supported Trump.

Known as the “Hands Off” protests, Saturday’s demonstrations are aimed at pushing back against Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, who leads the controversial Department of Government Efficiency, an agency that has drastically slashed federal budgets and laid off thousands of government workers. Musk’s involvement in the U.S. government, particularly his role in cutting services and increasing federal contracts for his own companies, has become a flashpoint for demonstrators.

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‘The time to act is now’

The April 5 protests are the latest in a series of activist actions against Trump and Musk. Protesters have frequently targeted Tesla dealerships, drawing attention to Musk’s political influence and the economic shifts caused by D.O.G.E.’s policies. The department has been criticized for eliminating consumer protections, cutting Medicaid, and reducing Social Security services, moves that have sparked outrage across political lines.

“They’re taking everything they can get their hands on,” organizers wrote in promotional materials for Saturday’s event, “our health care, our data, our jobs, our services — and daring the world to stop them,” organizers wrote in promotional materials for the protests. “This is a crisis, and the time to act is now.”

The nationwide demonstrations aim to send a clear message of dissent, organizers said.

“This mass mobilization day is our message to the world that we do not consent to the destruction of our government and our economy for the benefit of Trump and his billionaire allies,” organizers wrote. “Alongside Americans across the country, we are marching, rallying, and protesting to demand a stop the chaos and build an opposition movement against the looting of our country.”

Oregon sees unprecedented participation

Rural Oregonians have seldom organized anti-Trump events, but several of Saturday’s demonstrations are planned for conservative areas, such as La Grande, Redmond, La Pine and Baker City.

Political scientists say Rural Oregonians are impacted by the Trump administration in ways they weren’t during his first term, meaning Saturday’s protests have the potential to bring out big crowds, not just for major urban areas such as Portland and Bend, but small communities as well.

“The scope of effects that some of President Trump’s policies have had — particularly cuts to services — have quite significantly affected rural communities,” said Chris Shortell, associate professor of politics and global affairs at Portland State University.

Rural Oregonians view Trump more favorably than those living in urban areas. In 2024, Trump won by huge margins in conservative counties. In Jefferson County — home to Madras, where a demonstration is planned — Trump beat out opponent former Vice President Kamala Harris by nearly 2-to-1.

But Oregonians of all political ideologies are feeling impacts from the Trump administration, Shortell said. USAID, which Trump and Musk have worked to shutter, played a big role in the agricultural industry, Shortell said, purchasing crops from farmers. Other changes, such as the firing of federal workers in Central Oregon, could be harmful, especially in regard to wildfire season.

“Those kinds of factors, and concerns about Social Security and language from the administration about what cuts they would be making have put people on edge that wouldn’t have been before,” Shortell said. “Cuts to things like veterans services are things that cut across pre-existing political lines.”

In La Grande, resident Matt Cooper says he’s attending Saturday’s protests because he believes much of what the Trump administration is doing is illegal.

“I never dreamed I’d live in a time when the future of our American democracy is in peril,” he said. “Government programs that serve the people are being gutted by an unelected billionaire. Congress and the courts alone can’t save us. It’s time for people to rise up in protest before it’s too late.”

‘Make people feel effects and consequences’

Whether the protests will impact the administration remains to be seen, but large-scale protests can make a difference, Shortell said. The Tea Party movement in the late 2000s had big impacts on the Affordable Care Act, and the Occupy Movement from the 2010s helped spur the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

“They can be effective,” Shortell said. “But it depends on a lot of factors.”

One factor protestors are hoping to avoid is political violence and vandalism. Protests against Musk have had violent incidents across the country. In Tigard, a protestor shot at the dealership in two separate incidents, and in Salem, some Tesla vehicles were destroyed after a protestor allegedly threw Molotov cocktails.

Organizers for the Hands Off protests have said they are committed to keeping the event peaceful.

Tesla, which Musk owns, has faced a tumultuous period over the last few months, as stocks have slid in the first quarter and liberal consumers turn their back on the electric car maker they once praised. Protestors have become a common site at Tesla dealerships across the nation, which have added visibility to Musk’s work with the government, Shortell said.

“That’s an example of the kind of protest that can be effective,” Shortell said. “Those kinds of targeted protests make people feel effects and consequences.”

For more information on Saturday’s protests, visit handsoff2025.com.