PORTLAND — Thousands gathered Saturday in cities and towns across Maine to protest Trump administration policies that have slashed the federal workforce and funding for a host of programs and agencies, as well as tariffs on imports that many economists predict will drive up costs for consumers and lead to inflation.

Maine’s “Hands Off!” protests were among some 1,200 similar demonstrations held around the country in opposition to Trump administration policies.

For Andy and Mary Wright, of Falmouth, and Lisa Miller, of Cumberland, Saturday’s protest in Portland was the first they had ever attended.

“I’m appalled at what’s going on, and I’ve never participated in a protest, and I can’t just sit on the couch,” Andy Wright said. “I’ve got to do something.”

Liz Gardner and her 16-year-old daughter, Ava Gardner, both of Freeport, protest against the Trump administration Saturday morning along Main Street in Freeport. Daryn Slover/Portland Press Herald

The three said they were concerned about cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, as well as the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which provides foreign assistance to a host of countries, and Trump’s actions regarding the war between Ukraine and Russia.

“The only way we’re going to reverse the course we’re on is to have a groundswell of everyday people,” Lisa Miller said.

The Portland protest alone drew thousands to Monument Square. The protest shut down Congress Street between Center and Temple streets as protesters flooded the road and listened to speakers — including Sen. Angus King — and chanted “hands off!”

Maine rallies were scheduled from Wells to as far afield as Lubec.

An estimated 3,000 people covered the Maine State House lawn and steps in Augusta. Several hundred lined the Longley bridge between Lewiston and Auburn. Smaller groups sprouted up in South Portland, Freeport, South Paris and elsewhere.

Maine, like much of the country, has seen a notable jump in the size and frequency of political demonstrations since President Donald Trump took office again in January. Some, including demonstrations in support of transgender students, have sprung up locally, but others, including those on Saturday, have been part of nationally coordinated events.

South Portland “Hands Off!” rally organizer Barbara Dee said the message of the day was “hands off” protections and programs that people rely on.

Liz Gardner and her 16-year-old daughter, Ava Gardner, both of Freeport, demonstrate against Trump administration policies on Saturday morning along Main Street in Freeport. Daryn Slover/Portland Press Herald

“I think it’s the assault on the history of the philosophical origins of the United States of America,” Dee said. “I think it’s an assault on democracy, and that’s what’s foremost in people’s minds.”

Much of the recent political action has focused on Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency — the group responsible for eliminating what the Trump administration has deemed wasteful government spending.

“Nobody, not even the people that voted for Trump, voted for DOGE,” said Amanda Avallone, of Cape Elizabeth, who was protesting in Portland on Saturday.

The unofficial department has cut federal staff by the thousands — in some cases, shuttering entire departments — often without a clear legal basis for doing so. Trump recently told Cabinet members that Musk’s time at the White House would soon end, but did not provide specifics, Politico reported.

THE ROOTS OF PROTEST

Protests like these take place when residents feel that typical, institutional channels — things like writing letters to the editor or contacting one’s representative — feel “blocked or dysfunctional,” said Laura Henry, professor of government at Bowdoin College. Individually, people may feel compelled to protest by a desire to find solidarity with others and sparking tangible change, she said.

Rally goers at the Portland Hands Off protest in Monument Square on Saturday. Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald

“There often does have to be some level of organizational support, however modest, to kind of get the ball rolling, to say here’s when and here’s where,” Henry said. “People are much more likely to protest if they belong to networks. … (If) they feel like they’re going to go there and see people from their community who they know.”

Recent protests have included broad demonstrations against Trump and his administration’s slash-and-burn approach to reducing the federal workforce. A poster for Saturday’s rallies across the state highlighted impacts to health care, education, national parks and Social Security in an apparent attempt to draw individuals concerned about a wide range of issues.

Andy Wright, the Falmouth man attending his first protest, held a sign at the Portland rally  that read, “Hands off Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare.”

“I’m 65; I was planning on Social Security checks — not so sure anymore,” he said.

MUSK, TRUMP AND MORE

Success in political action may hinge on activists’ ability to combine multiple issues and points of view under a larger umbrella without falling into factions, researchers who study political action and change said.

“(Protesters) come together because they have to have a voice, because other than that, there is depression,” said Pat Fogg, one of the organizers of the protest in Auburn and Lewiston on Saturday. “And the scrutiny in the administration is chaotic. They have removed anyone who is competent and have replaced everyone with incompetency.”

Strong protest movements are often built on coalitions of several demographics guided by a shared understanding of the issues, said Henry, the Bowdoin professor. But when multiple groups come together, who may not agree on every issue, it can be difficult to maintain a sense of unity.

“Once people feel that collective framing, they’re more likely to feel empowered, like their participation really could help send that message,” Henry said. “It is always a challenge to keep these movements together. They are prone to fragmentation.”

Dee, the South Portland protest organizer, said she is encouraging people to keep the momentum going after Saturday by calling their members of Congress and continuing to demonstrate.

“My sign says ‘hands off public education,’ because my career was in public education, but I saw a lot of other signs at the poster party — hands off the environment, hands off veterans, off Social Security, everything,” Dee said. “But this is a huge fault on the foundations of America.”

Protesters expressed similar sentiments at the Auburn rally. Susan Murphy, of Bridgton, said the changes in the federal government make her fear for the future of generations to come.

“It’s going to take well over a generation to rectify,” Murphy said. “And I can’t let that go by and just be sitting at home and be complacent about it.”

TRANSGENDER ATHLETES

Maine has been catapulted into the center of the debate about transgender people’s right to participate in girls’ and women’s sports — resulting in protests on both sides of the issue.

A car passes protesters gathered in South Paris on Saturday morning. Rose Lincoln/Bethel Citizen

Following Gov. Janet Mills’ public defiance of a Trump executive order banning transgender athletes from high school competition, some Mainers rallied behind the governor, while others called for her immediate removal.

Students and parents from Maine School Administrative District 51, which serves students in Cumberland and North Yarmouth, organized a protest last month to support transgender students.

Organizers at the rally said political action can be community-led.

“It’s a beautiful opportunity to recognize that one person does make a difference, and we have an opportunity right now in this community to really show the state, and show the country, that it just takes some concerned citizens and a gathering of people to really get our voices out there,” said organizer and MSAD 51 parent Leah McDonald.

Protesters and counterprotesters clashed last month at a “March against Mills” at the State House in Augusta. Organizers called for Mills to be removed as governor and demanded that girls’ and women’s sports be restricted to those assigned female at birth.

The Cumberland-North Yarmouth district entered the national conversation after a transgender Greely High School student won an indoor track championship this winter. Subsequent federal investigations found Maine, the Maine Principals’ Association and Greely High School in violation of federal Title IX law, pressuring the state to change its stance on transgender athletes or lose federal funding.

Protesters taking part in Saturday’s “Hands Off!” rallies also expressed support for transgender people, with some in Portland waving transgender flags and holding “support trans kids” signs.

While protesting at the State House on Saturday, 80-year-old Susanne Ashland, of Farmingdale, said she had hoped that transgender people, Black people, immigrants and women would have equal rights by this point in her life.

“I guess (I was) wrong,” said Ashland, who celebrated her 80th birthday Saturday. “Because for some reason, people think that’s not important.”

GAUGING SUCCESS, MOMENTUM

The recent protests are the latest in a lengthy history of political action in Maine, said state historian Earle Shettleworth. He noted significant demonstrations like those at Colby College during the Vietnam War, which were heightened by the killing of four students at Kent State University in Ohio, and major strikes among Maine’s textile workers during the Great Depression.

“Those are just two (examples), but there’s a long history,” Shettleworth said.

Protesters participate in a “Hands Off” protest march near the Maine State House in Augusta on Saturday afternoon. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Steven Barkan, professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Maine, also noted the impact of the Kent State shootings on Mainers, saying there is often an inciting incident that compels individuals to voice what may once have been private opinions. He pointed, as a more recent example, to the 2020 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, which triggered national outrage following years of action by Black Lives Matter.

“Triggering events have occurred, as when the Tufts University graduate student was grabbed and disappeared last month by masked law enforcement agents, which since has triggered ongoing Boston-area protests,” Barkan said in an email on April 1. “So it does seem at this early stage that a discontent threshold has been reached, where people have become so outraged that they are finally beginning to feel compelled to protest.”

Henry, the Bowdoin political scientist, said protests can have multiple goals — from showing support, to growing a base, to actually changing policy — making it difficult to determine their efficacy. She argued that the most effective protests tend to be those with clear and specific asks.

“It’s not a really simple relationship between protest and political change,” Henry said. “It may be that our elected officials react to a protest, but that’s never the last word. This is a process, rather than an event.”