Nationwide protests are set for Jan. 20, marking a year since Trump’s second term began. Here’s what to know.

WASHINGTON — Protests are planned nationwide on Tuesday, Jan. 20, and the date isn’t coincidental. It marks one year since President Donald Trump returned to the White House for his second term. 

The walkout, dubbed the “Free America Walkout” by organizers, is led by the social justice group Women’s March. The same group created the Women’s March on Washington in 2017. That march brought out an estimated 4,465,169 people, earning it the Guinness World Records for the largest women’s-rights march. 

The “Free America Walkout” aims to bring folks out of school and work at 2 p.m. local time on Jan. 20 to call for change.

“We will walk out of work, school, and commerce. We will withhold our labor, our participation, and our consent,” the group said on their website. 

The protests arrive as public outrage over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement officers shot and killed a woman in her car last week in Minneapolis. The killing intensified protests and scrutiny of the federal response.


Why is the march on Tuesday, Jan. 20?

Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, marks exactly one year since Trump was sworn in as president for the second time.

It being on a weekday makes the scheduled walkout more disruptive to the status quo. 

“A walkout interrupts business as usual. It makes visible how much our labor, participation, and cooperation are taken for granted — and what happens when we withdraw them together,” the website for the march said. 

Meanwhile, on the anniversary of his inauguration, President Trump is heading to the World Economic Forum in Davos, an annual gathering of the global elite. He plans to use a key address there Wednesday to lay out his plans to make housing more affordable.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.