Is the anti-Trump ‘resistance’ starting to find its voice again?

For months, Democrats have watched aghast as President Donald Trump has unleashed his head-spinning, all-of-government brand of disruption. Boxed out of federal governing, Democratic voters have bewailed the impotence of their party’s leaders as the Republican administration has dismantled government agencies, claimed wartime powers to deport immigrants – and, last week, imposed an unprecedented level of tariffs that sparked a rout in global financial markets.

Lately, that frustration has shown signs of coalescing into something bigger. Testy voters have peppered GOP lawmakers at town halls, and tens of thousands continue to turn out for a barnstorming tour by Sen. Bernie Sanders. Last week, a record 25-hour protest speech by Sen. Cory Booker drew hundreds of millions of likes online.

On Saturday, disaffected citizens took to the streets. Across the country, from small towns and mid-sized cities to the nation’s capital, voters worried about the future of their democracy voiced their loudest message of opposition yet.

The rallies, organized by Democrat-aligned nonprofits, attracted crowds estimated in the tens or hundreds of thousands in larger cities. In Boston, around 25,000 showed up on a cold, drizzly day; 20,000 rallied in Atlanta and 30,000 in Chicago. More than 100,000 came out in Washington, D.C., organizers said. Every state reported some kind of protest, big or small.

For some, Saturday’s protests were cathartic, a show of force and solidarity by progressives who had struggled to pick themselves up from last November’s election defeat. Most attendees appeared to be Democrats who had voted for Mr. Trump’s opponent, former Vice President Kamala Harris, in that election.

The kaleidoscope of handmade signs and causes, from immigration and the defense of Ukraine to LGBTQ rights and press freedom, spoke to the range and scope of Mr. Trump’s executive actions since Jan. 20. Many protesters also made clear that political issues were personal to them.

Kate Norton, a scientist in the pharmaceutical industry in Colorado, flew to Washington with her husband to join the buoyant crowd that spread across the Mall. “I think our democracy is disappearing. I think the whole way of our American life is changing.” She criticized Mr. Trump’s order to eliminate the Department of Education and shrink the programs it funds. Her son was supported by a federally funded program at his public school, and she worries that other children will lose these benefits. “It’s devastating,” she says.

In Boston, Harry Lui said the recent death of his mother, who had been treated for dementia, made him want to join the protest. Mr. Lui, who works in customer services for Whole Foods, said he’s upset at the Trump administration’s deep cuts to National Institutes for Health funding. “They cut off the NIH funding for medical research. That affects dementia research,” he says.