How did the street in Washington commemorate the first anniversary of Trump’s election? | policy

Washington – One year after the exciting election race that returned President Donald Trump to the White House, Washington appears to be facing a new moment to test the pulse of the street, as the ongoing protest movements in a number of American states reveal a general mood that goes beyond immediate anger, and reflects a deeper concern about the path of power and the directions of government in its first year.

On the first anniversary of his re-election, hundreds came out yesterday, Wednesday, in the American capital, to express their rejection of the policies of the American administration, as the gatherings extended from the vicinity of the Washington Monument to areas close to the Capitol building, at a time when the country is living under the impact of the longest government closure in its history, and the gap between the White House and Congress is widening.

The protest movement was called for by a coalition that includes progressive groups, most notably the “Reject Fascism” movement, and feminist networks known as the “Handmade Coalition,” along with activists from immigration and civil rights organizations, and raised prominent slogans such as “No Kings” and “Trump must go now.”

Expressive drama

A group of participants used the costume of the series “The Handmaid’s Tale”, the famous American drama that takes place in a world ruled by a tyrannical religious authority that subjects women to comprehensive control and deprives them of their most basic rights, as a symbol of objection to policies they see as a reduction in individual freedoms or an “abuse of power.”

Liz Wilson, an activist who participated wearing a maid costume, said that choosing this dress “rang an alarm bell. When we watched the series for the first time, we thought it was a fantasy, but the truth today is that there is a real threat and this is terrifying.”

Wilson added in her interview with Al Jazeera Net that “restriction on rights does not begin with a single decision, but rather with a series of small steps that may seem normal to some, but they are dangerous, and we are here to say that we see where this trend is heading, and we will not wait until it becomes normal.”

Popular concern

For his part, David Suber, professor of constitutional law at Georgetown University, believes that the nature of the current protests is fundamentally different from the pattern of traditional American demonstrations. He explains that the wave of anger is not directed towards specific policies as much as it is focused on “the encroachment of executive authority” and the way of managing government during the first year of Trump’s term.

In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, Suber points out that the slogan of the broader movement, “No Kings,” summarizes the concern about the expansion of executive authority at the expense of the balance of powers, which explains the diversity of participants and the expansion of the gatherings.

These protests coincide with a wide follow-up of the results of the local elections that were held the day before yesterday. Although the ballot boxes did not give either party a sweeping victory, the map they produced shows clear signs of a changing mood within cities and urban suburbs.

Democrats achieved remarkable gains in local councils and educational bodies, compared to Republican stability in the countryside and conservative areas. This is what analysts read as an early warning from swing suburbs and cities, and is likely to be reflected in narrow-margin races during the upcoming midterm elections.

The strong presence of youth and minorities in the protests was not isolated from a broader shift within the urban mood in the United States, which is clearly evident in the rise of the progressive socialist candidate Zahran Mamdani and his historic success in the elections for mayor of New York, the largest and most influential American city.

A tense relationship

In major cities, where issues of immigration, civil rights, and public freedoms intersect, the relationship appears more tense between the federal authority and local communities, especially with the public confrontations between the White House and a number of elected officials, including Mamdani, who was the target of a direct attack from the president during the past months.

Trump threatened to “restrict federal funding” to New York City if Mamdani wins, without specifying the legal mechanisms for doing so. But he softened his tone somewhat after the announcement of the results, and said that he “wants New York to succeed” and that the elected mayor must “respect Washington,” while keeping the door to political pressure open by talking about linking federal cooperation to “the city’s commitment to national priorities.”

Salah al-Din Maqsoud, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in New Jersey, believes that the policies of the first year of Trump’s term have left what he describes as a “black cloud” over the American scene, especially within religious and ethnic minorities, as a result of rhetoric related to immigration, security policies, and discrimination directed against specific groups.

He added to Al Jazeera Net that these groups are now finding in their political voice an increasing space for courage and organization, after suffering profound damage to immigrant and Muslim communities during the past months. He stressed that the reaction within these groups no longer tends toward indifference, but rather toward building organizational networks and broad civil solidarity to confront what he describes as the “authoritarian tendency” in the performance of the American administration.