Visitors to Yosemite National Park, California, jostling on February 22 for a glimpse of the winter attraction – the sunset that makes Horsetail Falls glow like a cascade of molten lava – were surprised to see a huge American flag just a few hundred meters from the object of their fascination. The flag was flying upside down, a sign of distress or protest.
Six park employees had rappelled down the cliff to hang the 9 x 15-meter flag from the granite face of El Capitan, 900 meters above the ground. They were trying to alert to the consequences for nature conservation of the Trump administration's chainsaw-style budget cuts to park and forest service staffing levels.
The gesture set a precedent. The upside-down star-spangled banner was omnipresent on March 1 in the demonstrations organized in front of 170 of the 433 parks, at the initiative of the group Resistance Rangers. A new march is already planned for March 15, in Washington.
That was one example among many. Every day, or almost, protests are taking place in the US against the brutality of Donald Trump's executive orders. They're small-scale, not very visible, sometimes made up of a few individuals at a crossroads ("Planet over profit!") or in front of a Tesla dealership. The "resistance" of 2025 is a fragmented phenomenon. Here, in Des Moines, Iowa, several hundred demonstrators showed their solidarity with transgender people. There, in Vermont, a thousand residents protested the arrival of JD Vance and his family: "Go ski in Russia!" The 50501 movement (50 protests, 50 states, 1 movement), unknown two months ago, called for rallies during Trump's speech to Congress on Tuesday, March 4.
Bernie Sanders' 'Fighting Oligarchy tour'
Even some supporters of Make America Great Again (MAGA) have begun to tire of the roller-coaster ride of presidential executive orders. In rural counties, the economy sometimes depends up to 50% on the federal government. Journalists have reported about Republican voters appalled by mass layoffs of veterans.
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