Donald Trump and Elon Musk told 'Hands Off!' by thousands of anti-facism protesters around the world

Opponents of president Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk are rallying across the US Saturday's demonstrations are being held in protest against the US administration's actions on government downsizing, the economy, human rights and other issues.

More than 1,200 Hands Off! demonstrations have been planned by more than 150 groups, including civil rights organisations, unions, LGBTQ+ advocates, veterans and fair-elections activists. The protests are planned for the National Mall in Washington DC, state capitols and other locations in all 50 states.

And the protests have now spread far beyond the United States, with people taking to the streets of cities in the UK, Belgium, Portugal and the Netherlands to show solidarity with the defiant demonstrators across the pond.

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Mr Trump has promoted his policies as being in the best interest of the US. Protesters are assailing the Trump administration's moves to fire thousands of federal workers, close Social Security Administration field offices, effectively shutter entire agencies, deport immigrants, scale back protections for transgender people and cut federal funding for health programs.

Mr Musk, one of the President's advisers who owns Tesla, SpaceX and the social media platform X, has played a key role in government downsizing as the head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency. He says he is saving taxpayers billions of dollars.

Speaking at the Washington protest, Paul Osadebe, a lawyer for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and a union steward, criticised Mr Trump, Mr Musk and others in the administration for not valuing the work federal employees do in creating "a baseline of economic security and power for working people".

He said: "Billionaires and oligarchs don't value anything other than profit and power, and they sure as hell don't value you or your life or your community. And we're seeing that they don't care who they have to destroy or who they have to hurt to get what they want."

In Massachusetts, thousands of people gathered on Boston Common holding signs including: "Hands off our democracy"; "Hands off our Social Security"; and: "Diversity equity inclusion makes America strong. Hands off!"

Asked about the protests, the White House said in a statement" "President Trump's position is clear: he will always protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid for eligible beneficiaries. Meanwhile, the Democrats' stance is giving Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare benefits to illegal aliens, which will bankrupt these programs and crush American seniors."

Activists have staged nationwide demonstrations against Mr Trump or Mr Musk multiple times since the new administration took power. But the opposition movement has yet to produce a mass mobilisation like the Women's March in 2017, which brought thousands of women to Washington, DC, after Mr Trump's first inauguration, or the Black Lives Matter demonstrations that erupted in multiple cities after George Floyd's killing in 2020. Organisers say they hope Saturday's demonstrations will be the largest since Mr Trump returned to office in January.