Thousands of workers left work early Tuesday in New York City and across the nation to protest the one-year anniversary of President Trump’s second inauguration amid simmering anger over ICE and the president’s efforts to take control of Greenland,
On a frigid afternoon, protestors turned out wearing red, white and blue in various locations, including Central Park, Prospect Park, Washington Square Park and Trump Tower in Midtown. There were a projected 800 events associated with the movement slated nationwide.
Roughly 200 protesters gathered in the numbing cold across the street from Trump Tower on Fifth Ave. in Manhattan. At one point the crowd sang, “This Land Is Your Land,” the Woody Guthrie ballad, in unison. They also chanted, “No more ICE!”
Anti-Donald Trump protesters gather outside Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (Barry Williams/ New York Daily News)
Leo, 38, who works in real estate, said he walked out of his Midtown office to be a part of the movement. He held a sign that read, “NEVER FORGET_ STAND WITH NATO” and “Don’t Tread on the US Constitution,” on the front and back.
“I think Trump is destroying America’s standing in the world stage,” he said when asked what compelled him to leave work to demonstrate. “I think we’re forgetting about the fact that NATO stood by us after 9/11 and now he’s threatening Greenland with invasion.”
“I’m not OK with what ICE is doing to anybody, the way they’re treating people inhumanely, and especially the fact that they’re doing this indiscriminately based on appearances, accents. That’s the complete opposite of what America stands for, in my opinion,” he added. “I’m not OK with this. I have to be here, (to) say something.”
Mili, 15, of Brooklyn, was in the crowd with several friends who walked out of The Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School in Greenwich Village and Soho to attend the rally.
“What bothers me is how horrible it is that he’s taking innocent people,” she said of the president and ICE. “He’s taking people at school pickup. He’s splitting up families, ruining there lives. And taking them places they’re not even from.”
Anti-Donald Trump protesters gather outside Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (Barry Williams/ New York Daily News)
Protester Lisa, 62, is a Manhattan actress originally from Minnesota who has family in Minneapolis, where local resident Renee Good was shot to death by an ICE agent on Jan. 7, sparking further protests in that city and nationwide.
“My 93-year-old mother is there. She’s terrified,” Lisa said. “I think what’s happening in our country has to stop and…I am frightened for all of my family in Minnesota.”
Her cousins in Minneapolis have been volunteering through a church to bring people scared to leave their homes groceries and necessities — but ICE agents have started following them on their delivery routes, Lisa said.
“Every day, another horror show,” said protester Anne Jaffie Holmes, 70, a retired environmental educator who lives in Irvington in Westchester County. She held a sign reading, “Greenland is for Greenlanders.”
“[Trump’s] latest thing is absolutely taking us back into the days of imperialism and colonialism,” Holmes said. “We have no right to Greenland. They are allies of our country, and we have been working with them for decades on mutual security and trade. It’s ridiculous to even talk about this.”
Anti-Donald Trump protesters gather near the 42nd St. library in Midtown Manhattan on Tuesday, January 20, 2026 in New York City. (Barry Williams/ New York Daily News)
Outside the New York Public Library on 42nd St., about 300 protesters gathered later in the day, chanting and holding signs with messages including: “Grow a Spine, Congress!” “Stop ICE Terror” and “Renee Nicole Good wasn’t a criminal, but the President is.”
“We are a force that grows in number. We all have to come out. Not just a few. We all have to be there,” said Anna Garcia, 54, a professor of dance at The New School who left work to be at the protest. “Being in front of the public library is perfect. We are defending knowledge, freedom and education. This is exactly where we should be.”
“It’s always good for people to come out,” said Evan Parris, 19, from Long Island. “Everyone should reflect on what happened to Renee Good. It should cause a panic. An uproar.”
“The fate of the world is on the line,” said Don Ostro, 72, a retired teacher. “Donald Trump and his regime are making war on the American people.”
“But we are the many. They are the few,” he added. We have to stand up and fight.”
“This is not a request. This is a rupture. This is a protest and a promise,” Free America says on its website.
Anti-Donald Trump protesters gather near the 42nd St. library in Midtown Manhattan on Tuesday, January 20, 2026 in New York City. (Barry Williams/ New York Daily News)
As of 6 p.m. Tuesday, the NYPD was reporting there had been no arrests connected to the protests.
Event organizers encouraged students to leave their classrooms to join marchers objecting to the Trump administration’s first year in office, which has included federal law enforcement being deployed in U.S. cities and unprovoked aggression toward longstanding allies.
Anti-Donald Trump protesters gather near the 42nd St. library in Midtown Manhattan on Tuesday, January 20, 2026 in New York City. (Barry Williams/ New York Daily News)
Women’s March Managing Director Tamika Middleton helped organize Tuesday’s protest. She said participants want to send a message “that we withdraw our consent from what is happening” within the Trump administration.
“We will withhold our labor, our participation, and our consent,” Free America’s website says. “A free America begins the moment we refuse to cooperate. … In the face of fascism, we will be ungovernable,” the group declares.
Anti-Donald Trump protester, Anne Jeffie Holmes, 70, protests outside Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan on Tuesday, January 20, 2026. (Barry Williams/ New York Daily News)
President Trump celebrated the state of the nation with a social media post declaring “America is back!!!” late Monday afternoon.
He cited the soaring stock market and tightened U.S. borders among his successes over the past year.